Juventus make easy work of Sevilla; Benfica upset Simeone's Atletico

By Jamie Trecker
Published

Juventus saw off Sevilla 2-0 on Wednesday in Turin thanks to goals from Alvaro Morata and Simone Zaza in a sleepy but professional show that took them top of Group D in the UEFA Champions League. In the group's other game, Borussia Moenchengladbach lost to Manchester City 2-1 to leave the Spaniards second in the group on goal difference after two matches.

This was a matchup of two finalists from last season; Juventus fell in last year's final to Barcelona, and Sevilla of course are back-to-back winners of the Europa League. Both have been poor in league play to date but they were both expected to turn it up a notch in this game as they have so often done in European play.

But only one team did. In a largely one-sided half, Juventus struggled to break down an organized Sevilla side despite having more of the ball and clearly making keeper Sergio Rico do more work. Juan Cuadrado and Paulo Dybala were combining well down the near flank, but the Colombian winger's attempts on goal were invariably awry; he has been held off the board since last January.

Dybala had the best chance early, sending a free kick right to left over the bar in the 18th minute after a foul from Michael Krohn-Dehli on Cuadrado. It was a fine hit and Rico was lucky to see it sail wide of his far top corner, but it also was an indication of just how at arm's length Sevilla were able to hold the Old Lady. Juventus kept coming forward but too often their shots ended up in the stands, or in Rico's gloves.

It wasn't until Juventus grabbed a bit of width, with Cuadrado laying the ball back to Andrea Barzagli, that the deadlock was broken. Barzagli whipped in a cross that reached Alvaro Morata near the spot. Outleaping both Grzegorz Krychowiak and Marco Andrelli, Morata put a perfectly-placed header inside the near post, leaving Rico helpless. It was Morata's fifth goal in as many Champions League games and equaled a club record set by Alessandro del Piero.

If the first half was one-sided, the second was a slog. Sevilla never got under power and as Juventus passed and passed the ball about, the energy just leeched from the game. Zaza would come off the bench and the insurance in the 87th minute, put through one on one with Rico with a fine pass from Dybala. Zaza seemed nonplussed by the goal, Sevilla just seemed out of gas.

Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid slumped to a home loss against Benfica 2-1, with Goncalo Guedes scoring a vital late goal to give the Portuguese side top slot in group C. Angel Correa got Atleti up early off great service from Antoine Griezmann, but slowly but surely, Benfica began to bit back.

Man of the match Nicolas Gaitan took control for Benfica and leveled matters up in the 36th minute with a brutal volley off a ball flown in from the right side. Gaitan then turned provider, sending Guedes on a ramble for him to fire a low shot across keeper Jan Oblak and into the back of the net. That took the wind out of Atleit’s sails, and they must now look ahead to a home tie against surprising Astana, who earlier today held Galatasaray to a 2-2 draw.

CSKA Moscow 3, PSV Eindhoven 2

CSKA Moscow overcame a missed penalty kick and a spirited PSV Eidhoven fightback to grab their first points in a congested Group B after their 3-2 victory on Wednesday night. All teams are now on 3 points, and all share identical goal difference after two matches.

Ahmed Musa got CSKA off to a flier, scoring after only seven minutes when Zoran Tosic’s corner dropped kindly. Seydou Doumbia would then double the advantage 14 minutes later as Tosic and Mario Fernandes combined down the far flank to send in an inch-perfect cross for Doumbia to hammer home. Keeper Jeroen Zoet would then make a rash tackle on Tosic in the area, sending Doumbia to the spot. He stepped up, blew the kick to the keeper’s left and the game seemed over.

It was not, however. Doumbia would get another chance from the spot when Musa was chopped down in the 43rd  by Santiago Arias, but instead cannoned his kick into the upper decks. He looked rueful afterwards, and well should have, for the let-off let PSV back into the game.

After the break, Maxime Lestienne scored a quick-fire double in eight minutes just after the hour mark. Lestienne, involved so far in every single PSV goal scored in Europe this season, got his first thanks to a nice cross from Adam Maher, then collected his second with a stunning solo effort from range.

But PSV’s comeback ended when Arias again fouled Musa, again drew yellow, and then saw red in the 80th minute. That tok the wind out of the sails of the Dutch side and CSKA held on for a vital home win.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.