Juventus Women see UWCL run come to an end vs. Wolfsburg despite second-leg dominance
· Yahoo Sports
Juventus Women manager Max Canzi made it no secret about how he felt about Wednesday evening’s Women’s Champions League play-off tie against Wolfsburg. With his team coming back to Turin tied at 2-2 after the German giants’ late rally last week, Canzi stepped up to the microphone and delivered the following statement:
“In terms of competition level, yes, this is the most important match since I’ve been here,” said Canzi, who is in his second season as manager.
Visit truewildslot.com for more information.
For everything that Canzi’s squad ended up doing at the J Stadium in the second leg of this play-off tie, there was just one thing lacking: the end product and at least one goal to level things up.
Once Wolfsburg scored what proved to be the decisive goal to go ahead on aggregate and the night, then spent much of the subsequent 75 minutes defending a Juve push that created plenty of scoring chances. But between a handful of close calls and some fantastic saves from Wolfsburg keeper Stina Johannes, the German side was able to keep the Bianconere off the scoreboard and eventually claim a 2-0 win at the J Stadium and prevail 4-2 on aggregate to advance to the Women’s Champions League quarterfinals where they will meet French giants OL Lyonnes.
It didn’t matter who the shot came from, it was either being saved by Johannes, going just wide of goal or hitting the woodwork, preventing Juventus Women from getting a goal that would have turned the second half into a complete toss up with how Canzi’s team were taking complete control of things.
But they couldn’t get the one goal they needed to make that possibility a reality.
And, as a result, a European campaign in which they gave some of the biggest clubs in the women’s game like OL Lyonnes and Bayern Munich a serious run for their money during the league phase and then did the same against Wolfsburg is suddenly over.
Considering they were the underdog in pretty much all of these matchups, it’s still a remarkable feat to say that they are able to make a serious game of it despite the disparity in resources that they have compared to what the women’s game in Italy usually offers up. But even in defeat, it’s hard not to forget that they were up 2-0 heading into the final minutes during the first leg last week in Germany. And the only thing that allowed Wolfsburg’s opener in the 18th minute to be the goal that ended up eventually deciding the tie was that late rally that took place eight days earlier.
Even then, Juve had their chances — especially in the second half as Wolfsburg hunkered down to try and defend their lead on the night and on aggregate. The possession numbers completely flipped from the first half to the second, with Canzi basically setting up his squad to play on the counter a lot like they did in the first leg last week during the opening half on Thursday. However, with Wolfsburg ceding pressure and going into their defensive shell, the chances became a lot more plentiful for Juventus.
But, again, the one thing that was lacking was the simple matter of beating Johannes.
Juve recorded a whopping 19 shots in the second half alone. NINETEEN! The thing was, they hit the woodwork once on Ana Capeta’s overhead kick attempt. They saw Cristiana Girelli, playing what could very well be her final game with Juventus Women, come close on more than one of her three shots after coming on as a sub in the 67th minute. That is on top of the multiple world-class saves that Johannes made in the second half.
They were not lacking for chances or time on the ball. They were just lacking the necessary clinical nature in front of goal to take advantage of even a fraction of those chances. Or maybe a little bit better luck, too.
Juve dominated the vast majority of the second half. The 2-0 scoreline doesn’t necessarily do the Bianconere’s performance justice because they played well on this night. With a little bit better finishing in front of goal, they’re pulling the upset against Wolfsburg in Turin, pulling the upset over two legs and heading into the UWCL quarterfinals for a rematch with OL Lyonnes.
Instead, they’re looking back with plenty of disappointment because this is a game and a tie that they could have won and advanced to a stage in the Women’s Champions League that few Italian teams have before.