Porto stun Juventus in extra time: Champions League – as it happened
09-Mar-2021 23:09:13 | The Guardian
Jacob Steinberg’s verdict is in. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
Related: Sérgio Oliveira and 10-man Porto stun Juventus in extra-time thriller
That’s one hell of a performance by Porto. By far the better side in the first half, the jig looked up in the second, after they conceded a couple of goals in short order and went down to ten men. But they dug in, the old warrior Pepe overseeing a heroic defensive stand. And could a Juventus defeat have ended any other way, the decisive blow, Sergio Oliveira’s late free kick, sailing between Cristiano Ronaldo’s feet? A third European Cup continues to elude Juve; Porto’s quest for their third remains on!
Perhaps understandably, after that emotional maelstrom, tempers threaten to spill over at the end. Porto cavort, while Andrea Pirlo has a full and frank exchange of views with the referee. Porto boss Sergio Conceicao momentarily looks like embarking on some sort of freewheeling rampage. Not sure what about. It all calms down quickly enough, anyway.
You’ll do well to see a better match in the Champions League this season. This decade, perhaps. What amazing drama. What entertainment!
ET 30 min +4: There is one last chance for Juve, a free kick out on the right. Cuadrado swings it in! There’s some head tennis, then Marchesin flaps clear. The referee puts his whistle to his mouth, and ...
ET 30 min +3: Probably not, because Kulusevski has fouled Diaz in the centre circle and time isn’t on their side.
ET 30 min +2: Rabiot lashes a wild effort miles over the bar from distance. Mbemba is booked, presumably for timewasting. Have Juve got anything left? Has this classic got one last twist?
ET 30 min +1: The first of three extra minutes. A desperate Juve win another corner, on the left. Porto, equally desperate for wildly different reasons, just about clear.
ET 30 min: Even more drama coming up! De Ligt, just inside the Porto box, goes over Grujic’s leg. There’s going to be a VAR check ... but there was no contact. Just a corner.
ET 29 min: This is breathless. As things stand, Porto are going through on away goals.
A couple of corners for Juve. Ronaldo meets the first with a powerful sidefoot, only for Marchesin to save sensationally. Then Rabiot rises to meet the second, planting it into the top right! What drama here! Juve not out of it yet!
ET 26 min: That wasn’t just a keeping mistake; the wall jumped, the low free kick whistling between Ronaldo’s legs!
McKennie is rounded by Oliveira, 25 yards out. He brings him down. Free kick. Oliveira gets up and takes the free kick himself. He sends a daisycutter skidding towards the bottom left ... and it squeezes in, Szczesny getting a hand to it, to no avail! Porto are going through!
ET 23 min: Morata scoops a tame effort straight at Marchesin. Rabiot is booked for a late challenge on Diaz.
ET 22 min: Just before Grujic’s shot, Diaz dropped a shoulder to make his way past a sliding Cuadrado, who does exceptionally well to get his arm out of the road. The ball missed his arm by inches. No penalty.
ET 21 min: Then up the other end, time and space for Grujic to shoot, just to the left of the D! He’s so ponderous, though, and his eventual dribbled effort slowly bagatelles its way through the Juve box before being hacked clear.
ET 20 min: Kulusevski drops a shoulder to diddle Manafa down the left. He shoots low towards the near corner. Mbemba throws himself at the shot, which deflects back off Kulusevski and out for a goal kick!
ET 19 min: Now Pepe deflects Ronaldo’s low drive out for a corner, from which nothing comes.
ET 18 min: Cuadrado crosses from the right. Pepe, for the millionth time this evening, heads clear. He smiles broadly. The old timer is enjoying himself.
ET 17 min: It’s attack versus defence again. Porto digging in, presumably having decided that penalties are their most realistic chance of advancing.
ET 16 min: Bernardeschi fizzes in a low cross from the left, but it’s hoicked clear by Grujic.
Porto get the second half of extra time underway. Marega has been magnificent but has run himself into the ground. Martinez comes on in his place.
Crunch time coming up!
ET 15 min +1: Bernardeschi’s second act is to win a corner down the left, but nothing comes of it.
ET 15 min: There will be two extra minutes of this first period of extra time.
ET 14 min: Bernardeschi’s first act is to pick up a booking for clattering Grujic.
ET 13 min: Ronaldo races after a pass down the inside-left channel. He’s about to get to it, just inside the box ... but Marchesin comes out and executes a sensational (and extremely risky) sliding tackle to save the day! Ronaldo wants a penalty but the challenge looked clean. What a tackle!
ET 12 min: Yep, that’s the end of Chiesa’s evening. He’s replaced by Bernardeschi, while Arthur makes way for Kulusevski.
ET 11 min: A couple of opportunities for Chiesa to cross from the right. A couple of uncharacteristically poor deliveries follow. The young man getting a little bit tired.
ET 9 min: Corona wins a corner down the left. Porto play it short. Corona, tight on the byline, spins and shovels a cute ball into the middle, where Marega should score from six yards. But Marega can’t generate enough power in the header and Szczesny claims. What a brilliantly worked corner, though!
ET 7 min: Diaz nicks the ball off Sandro in the centre circle and is brought down for his trouble. Sandro is booked ... and so is Oliveira for some reason. The Porto midfielder will miss the first leg of the quarters if his team make it.
ET 5 min: McKennie spins on a ball bouncing freely on the edge of the Porto penalty box. It’s a lovely bit of skill that fashions a chance to shoot out of nothing, but Mbemba closes him down and blocks. Great football all round.
ET 3 min: Cuadrado is booked for shoving his arm in Corona’s face, falling over and handling the ball, and having the brass neck to complain about the award of a free kick. Nothing comes of the set piece, but that means the Juve right-back will miss the first leg of the quarters should his team win through.
ET 2 min: A fairly slow start to extra time as both teams strive to get back up to speed. It was a hell of a 90-minute ride, after all.
Juve get the first half of extra time underway! No changes during the turnaround.
We’re going to extra time ... and possibly penalty kicks. What a match this has been! Porto have done exceptionally well to stay alive (with a little help from the woodwork).
90 min +5: Morata wins a corner down the right. One last chance for Juve, maybe?Cuadrado to take. Marega heads powerfully clear. That should be that.
90 min +4: Chiesa is booked for a late lunge on Grujic. This has been great fun. More please! Extra time promises to be a blast.
90 min +3: Cuadrado dribbles down the right, drops a shoulder and enters the box. Then he whips a glorious rising curler towards the top left ... only for the ball to twang the underside of the bar and away!
90 min +2: Marega tries to launch a counter with a long pass down the right, but Corona doesn’t have the legs to chase.
90 min +1: De Ligt loops a pass down the middle. Morata brings it down. He’s clear on goal! He finishes delightfully, flicking the ball across Marchesin and into the bottom right ... but he’s correctly flagged offside. VAR double-checks, to make sure, but it’s no goal.
90 min: A third Porto change, as Grujic comes on for Uribe. There will be five added minutes!
89 min: Rabiot and Chiesa exchange cute passes down the inside-left channel and nearly open Porto up. Manafa steps across to intercept and clear, just as Chiesa was thinking about a shot.
87 min: The corner ends up at the feet of Rabiot, 25 yards out. His rising shot is always missing to the left. The scoreline of this match could have been anything.
86 min: And now up the other end, Chiesa crosses from the left. Ronaldo has his neck wound back, only for Marega to eyebrow out for a corner just in time!
85 min: Diaz and Marega combine their way into the Juve box on the left. Marega turns back, then suddenly spins and flashes a low shot towards the bottom left. The side netting ripples. So close!
83 min: Sarr makes good down the inside-left and sends a screamer goalwards from 25 yards. It’s straight at Szczesny, who makes a meal of parrying. Porto are suddenly asking a couple of questions, with Juve understandably getting a bit nervous; any mistake now and they’ll almost certainly be out.
82 min: Chiesa could, probably should, have given Juve the lead. He tears down the left and enters the box, but his shot from a tight-ish angle is parried well by Marchesin. Morata goes to meet the rebound and swipes fresh air.
81 min: But you never know, and here’s Corona barrelling down the right. His deep cross finds Oliveira in space, just inside the Juve box on the left. He could bring the ball down, but opts to cushion a header towards ... well, who exactly? Nobody there.
80 min: Marchesin kicks long, in the hope of releasing Corona. Nowhere near. Porto are offering absolutely nothing in attack right now. The ten men look extremely unlikely to fashion a shock winner.
78 min: A huge chance for Ronaldo, who rises to meet another of Cuadrado’s superb right-wing crosses. He’s six feet out, unchallenged, but misjudges, sending a header back across the face of goal and out to the right. It should have been three. As things stand, we’re all heading to extra time.
77 min: Porto have lined up nine men on the edge of their own box. Juve probe this way and that. Chiesa scoops a diagonal ball into the box from the left; McKennie tries to loop a header back over Marchesin and into the top left. He can’t get enough on it.
75 min: Juve make a double change, replacing Bonucci and Ramsey with De Ligt and McKennie.
74 min: Marega makes a couple of runs, one down the left, the second down the middle. He nearly reaches Uribe’s pass, but Szczeney comes out to smother. A reminder that a Porto goal would seriously disrupt the narrative arc of this match.
72 min: Bonucci creams a long pass down the left. Chiesa, on a hat-trick, can’t quite get the dropping ball under control as he barges his way into the box, and the keeper is able to come off his line to claim.
71 min: Porto make their second change, replacing Zaidu with Luis Diaz.
69 min: Cuadrado is hauled over as he makes his way down the right. The free kick is rolled infield to Rabiot, who fizzes a daisy-bothering shot towards the bottom right. Marchesin parries, Ramsey chases the rebound, and the flag goes up for offside.
68 min: Replays show a prone Marchesin responding to conceding Chiesa’s second goal by swinging a frustrated boot in the general direction of the nearby Morata’s special area. A naughty one.
66 min: Porto can’t get out. Bonucci diddles Manafa down the left and shoots from a tight angle. Overly optimistic, with Chiesa waiting in the centre. It’s blocked, and nothing comes of the corner.
65 min: Chiesa, who has single-handedly kept Juventus in this season’s competition over the two ties, crosses deep from the left. An easy snaffle for the keeper, but you can’t get everything right.
Yep, it’s going to be a long half hour for Porto all right. Cuadrado crosses deep from the right. Chiesa rises highest at the far stick and powers a header into the top left! Marchesin had no hope of keeping it out, and it’s all level!
62 min: Porto make a defensive substitution, swapping Otavio for Sarr. Then there’s another Juve corner, which leads to some head tennis in the Porto box. This could be a long half hour for Porto.
61 min: Another Pepe clearance slams Uribe on the arm. Juve want a penalty but they’re not getting one.
59 min: Easy to forget that Porto are still leading this tie, and should they snaffle another away goal on the counter, Juve will have a new mountain to climb, facing ten men or no. Porto remind everyone of this by winning a corner, though nothing comes from it.
57 min: This is superb entertainment. From the corner, there’s a little space and time for Bonucci to have a crack from a tight angle on the left. Pepe again performs heroics to block, and nothing comes of the resulting set piece.
56 min: Juve are this close to levelling the tie on aggregate! A looped pass down the inside left. Chiesa takes down, enters the box, cuts across Marchesin and prepares to slide the ball into an empty net ... only for Pepe to extend a telescopic leg, taking the ball off Chiesa’s toe and sending it out for a corner via the base of the right-hand post!
55 min: Taremi initially channels his inner Antonio Rattin and refuses to leave, but soon accepts his fate and departs. How quickly it all changes!
54 min: A long ball punted down the middle. Taremi chests down. He’s offside, so blooters the ball goalwards in frustration. Ronaldo and Bonucci lead protests immediately, surrounding the referee and demanding a booking. They get their wish! Bjorn Kuipers gives himself a few seconds to think, then flashes a second yellow and a red.
52 min: And now Ramsey flashes a header straight at Marchesin from a right-wing cross. Now it’s Porto’s turn to be rattled, and Taremi is booked for a poor challenge on Chiesa.
51 min: What a strike by Chiesa, and what a lovely move. It’s almost as though Porto were lulled into a false sense of security, Juve having signally failed to fly out of the blocks at the start the second half. But suddenly they clicked into gear, and here we are. Freshly energised, they win a corner. Nothing comes of it, but that’s not the point. Juve suddenly have the wind in their sail!
Juve stroke it around patiently. Bonucci suddenly shovels a pass down the inside-left channel. He stuns the dropping ball, teeing it up for Chiesa, who curls a sensational shot across Marchesin and into the top right! Juve are back in it!
47 min: Juventus stroke it around the back. There’s no out-ball. Porto stand in position. A pattern may have been set.
Porto get the second half underway. Hold firm, and they’re in the last eight. Juve - grim-faced as they trooped back out - need a goal and quick. No half-time changes. Meanwhile here’s Ursolin Waxoh: “I agree with both your aesthetic reasoning that Juve’s crest is nicer looking and with your other correspondents’ more nostalgic view that Porto’s is worthier. See, we can all get along!”
Half-time entertainment. Relax the old eyes before the second 45.
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There’s just enough time for Juve to waste a corner, and that’s the end of an excellent first half for Porto. Juve need to find two in order to take this to extra time; they’ve struggled to make chances against this stingy Porto defence. Should the visitors score again - and they look more than capable - this will almost certainly be all over. Big second half coming up!
45 min +3: Otavio is booked for a cynical check on Cuadrado.
45 min +2: The delivery isn’t all that. But Rabiot makes a meal of clearing and Oliveira is given time to take a shot from the right-hand corner of the box. He skelps a fierce effort towards the bottom right; Szczesny does very well to smother.
45 min +1: In the first of four added minutes, Chiesa brings down Corona out on the right. A free kick in a dangerous area. Oliveira to take.
45 min: Arthur hauls down Manafa from behind as the Porto full back threatens to break into space on the right. No booking. The referee is in a very generous mood tonight.
44 min: The game suddenly gets very stretched, and within ten seconds or so, both keepers take their turn to race out of their areas and clear, Szczesny with a volley, Marchesin with a header. This match has been absurdly open.
42 min: Bonucci might have been offside, to be fair. But even so.
41 min: Cuadrado loops the corner into the mixer. Ronaldo heads down towards Bonucci, who prepares to swivel and slam the ball home from six yards. But Marchesin stoops to scoop the ball off the Juve captain’s boot. A goal-saving intervention, though Bonucci was strangely hesitant there.
40 min: Chiesa whips a better cross in this time. Morata is winding his neck back, six yards out, but Mbemba does extremely well to read the danger and head out for a corner. The set piece is worked back to Arthur, whose low drive through a thicket of players is deflected out for a corner on the right this time.
38 min: Juve are really struggling to find gaps in the heavily manned Porto defence. They’re enjoying the lion’s share of possession, for all the good it’s doing them.
36 min: Chiesa lumps in a cross from the left. Easy pickings for Marchesin. Juve haven’t given the keeper too much to do. A couple of saves, and that’s it.
34 min: We go again. “That JJ logo reminds me of the tracks of the old racing car game Scalextric, which is apt for a team run by the owners of Ferrari and Fiat,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “Their team looks like flying off the track tonight, though, the fate of all Scalextric cars that took the corners too fast.” Meanwhile Porto are running much more smoothly like TCR.
32 min: Sandro wins a corner for Juve down the right, but all that comes of it is an ugly clash of heads between Demiral and Pepe. Uribe also takes a knee to the back of the noggin. On come the physios, and everyone else can take a breather and a slug of water.
30 min: Porto have dropped back, six men along their last line of defence. There’s no room for Juve, so Rabiot has a whack from 30 yards. It’s heading towards the bottom left, but easily gathered by Marchesin. Here’s Colum Fordham: “I concur with Alan Gomes (like his reasoning re the crest – let’s go old school) and Ursolin (Agnelli’s proposal is horrific) but write from Naples where Juve is loathed by the many (Napoli fans) and loved by the few (some unfortunate misguided people such as my Vespa mechanic Gennaro -otherwise a really sound guy). I would love Porto to score quite a few goals – they’ve just scored the first and that brings joy to my heart – and knock La Signora out of the tournament. Viva neutrality!”
28 min: Juve remind everyone of the threat they nevertheless still carry. Cuadrado swings in from the right. The ball drops to Morata at the far stick. He chests down and fires towards the near corner. Marchesin blocks superbly, and nothing comes of the resulting corner. This match is so much fun.
26 min: Zaidu creams a volley towards the top left. Inches over. It’s Porto’s eighth attempt on goal already. They look like scoring pretty much every time they attack.
25 min: It’s an end-to-end romp, this. Morata jigs in from the right and loses his footing once he enters the Porto box. He wants a penalty, Pepe having breathed on him, but he’s not getting one. Then Corona and Otavio take turns to whistle shots down Szczesny’s throat. There is no way tonight’s game is ending 0-1.
23 min: Juve are rocking. Since the restart, Porto have come at them three times on the counter. They’ve over-elaborated on each occasion, but the hosts are living very dangerously. Meanwhile here’s Grant Tennille: “What with Big Cup, Juventus, and today’s Fiver uppermost in mind, it’s hard not to recall the image of an utterly knackered Zidane physically and literally crashing out of the 2002 World Cup while haring after an overcooked pass against ... Uruguay, was it? A defining moment, and one that seemed to play no small part in the subsequent and shockingly sensible binning of the ‘second group stage’ in Big Cup shortly thereafter. And yet, here we are.”
22 min: Teremi slides in recklessly on Demiral, and he’s somewhat fortunate not to go into the book. The referee giving the Porto attacker a free hit there.
21 min: A slightly grey pallor washes across Andrea Pirlo’s face. Juve now need two goals to take this to extra time, three if they’re to win. And there’s no room for error at the back.
Oliveira sends Szczesny the wrong way, rolling the penalty into the bottom left. So clinical.
17 min: Ramsey nearly slips Morata clear into the Porto box, but Mbemba steps in to intercept and clear. They break. Marega crosses low from the right. Demiral barges into the back of Taremi, who was trying to spin him, and the referee points to the spot!
15 min: So having said that, the game settles into its first slight lull, both teams perhaps deciding that they’ve been sailing a little too close to the wind.
13 min: Imagine the bedlam in this stadium after that start, were it full of fans. Haste ye back, one and all.
11 min: Throw for Porto deep in Juve territory on the left. Zaidu flings in. It’s half cleared, dropping to Otavio, just to the left of the D. Otavio attempts a volley, cutting across the ball and hoping for the top-right corner, but he gets it all wrong and finds the right-hand corner flag instead. Full marks for ambition, though. “I sort of agree with Alan Gomes. While I see the modernity of Juve’s minimalist crest, it reminds of when my stapler jams and I’m left with two twisted bits of metal.” Et tu, Peter Oh?!
9 min: Ronaldo is stopped illegally by Uribe as he sashays down the inside right channel. Free kick. Cuadrado takes. Ramsey tries to guide into the top left with his eyebrows, but the ball clears the crossbar by a couple of centimetres. This is great fun. How it’s still 0-0 I’ll never know, and it’s not often you can say that before the ten-minute mark.
8 min: Well what a start that was. Somewhere, in a parallel universe, it’s 3-1 to Porto and Juve are in a world of bother.
6 min: Porto go close again! Zaidu makes ground down the left and pulls back from the byline. Taremi’s strong sidefoot is parried brilliantly by Szczesny. Taremi tries to steer the rebound home, but his header grazes the top of the bar. Wow.
5 min: Or maybe not. Porto break up a Juve attack and Uribe leads a counter. He slips a pass down the inside right, allowing Marega to stride into the box. He can’t quite round Szczesny on his right, running the ball out of play for a goal kick. But that was close.
4 min: Juve are on the front foot here. Porto sitting back, a bank of four in front of a bank of five. It could be a long evening for Taremi up front.
3 min: Cuadrado whips a cross in from the right. Morata meets it with a powerful header. Marchesin stops it flying into the top left with a sensational strong arm. What a start to this game! It could easily be one apiece already.
2 min: Porto come straight at Juve, with Marega making a nuisance of himself under a high ball. It breaks to Uribe, who sends a low rasping shot inches wide of the left-hand post.
And we’re off! Juve get the ball rolling. A reminder that they trail 2-1, which is the only scoreline that can take us to extra time. “I know I will sound like a square ol’ fuddy-duddy, but in that picture I like Porto’s crest better,” writes Alan Gomes. “It’s too busy, a jumble of colours and symbols and letters. Any designer worth their salt would recoil in horror at it. But it is charming in its quaintness. and it has everything a badge could have: club colours, a totemic animal, national/regional symbols, an old-style leather ball. It’s not pretty, but it means something - it probably means a lot of things. Juve’s sleek, modern, pretty design could be the logo for an accounting firm or a film studio. It’s made for Agnelli’s ‘fan of tomorrow’.” Each to their own, huh.
The teams are out! Juventus are in their Notts County inspired black and white stripes - albeit fashionably distressed versions thereof - while Porto wear blue away from home, just like Mansfield Town. Nottinghamshire hasn’t had this much representation in the European Cup since the glory days of Brian Clough. Anyway, we’ll be off in a minute or two.
Pre-match postbag. “Here’s hoping that Porto do complete the job,” begins Ursolin Waxoh. “Nothing against Juventus or Him - I just want Andrea Agnelli to pay for proposing this horrendous thing. But of course, if Porto beat Juventus, more proof it will be to the likes of the Agnellis that their ‘perfect’ format is needed, right?”
This MBM is of course strictly neutral when it comes to this evening’s result; good luck to both teams. However, the Fiver is likely to have your back, Ursolin, if the tenor of today’s edition is anything to go by, while our man Paul MacInnes also has his doubts about the sagacity of this crackpot scheme.
Related: Champions League avenger Agnelli risks futile push for fan of tomorrow | Paul MacInnes
Pennant watch. The commemorative gift Leonardo Bonucci will hand over is a masterclass in crisp modern design. I love that badge.
Juventus make six changes to the starting XI named in Portugal three weeks ago. Arthur, Aaron Ramsey, Alvaro Morata, Juan Cuadrado, Leonardo Bonucci and Merih Demiral replace Giorgio Chiellini, Matthijs de Ligt, Danilo, Weston McKennie, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski.
By contrast, Porto are in If It Ain’t Broke mode. They start with the same 11 players who ran out for the first leg.
Juventus: Szczesny, Cuadrado, Bonucci, Demiral, Alex Sandro, Chiesa, Arthur, Rabiot, Ramsey, Morata, Ronaldo.
Subs: Chiellini, de Ligt, McKennie, Pinsoglio, Bernardeschi, Di Pardo, Dragusin, Frabotta, Fagioli, Kulusevski, Buffon.
Porto: Marchesin, Manafa, Mbemba, Pepe, Sanusi, Corona, Sergio Oliveira, Uribe, Otavio, Marega, Taremi.
Subs: Diogo Leite, N’Diaye, Diaz, Grujic, Felipe Anderson, Martinez, Evanilson, Nanu, Sarr, Vieira, Francisco Conceicao, Costa.
Porto go into this Round of 16 second leg against Juventus in the driving seat, thanks to a 2-1 victory in the first leg at the Estádio do Dragão. The Portuguese champions thoroughly bossed their Italian counterparts three weeks ago, but Federico Chiesa’s late goal threw Juve an away-goal lifeline.
Both teams are coming off the back of a league victory, Juve a 3-0 win over Lazio, Porto 2-0 victors at Gil Vicente. Porto will be buoyed by their record of closing out European ties having won the first leg - 34 out of 42 - and that while Juve have managed to win 15 of the 34 ties in which they’ve lost the first away leg, they couldn’t manage to pull off the trick at this stage last season against Lyon.
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