PAFOS FIGHT VALIANTLY IN TORINO

Juventus are the biggest club in Italy and one of the biggest in the world, with a rich history. For the first hour, Pafos FC gave them all they could handle. In the end, however, Juventus broke through, and for all the good they did, Pafos came up emptyhanded in a 2-0 loss at Juventus in UEFA Champions League action in Torino. Weston McKennie and Jonathan David had the goals.

Juventus have been struggling for their standards, but now on 9 points, 17^th place overall. Pafos have 6 points, and fall out of the top 24 required to advance, into 26^th place, but there’s still plenty of hope. It doesn’t get any easier though, their next Champions League match is in January, they will travel to London to visit Chelsea.

Pafos FC visited Juventus at Allianz Stadium in Torino. Juve pressed early, but Pafos had the first good chance, Joao Correia centered in front for Anderson, and he hit the outside of the post. Then Bruno Felipe looked to do something similar, and it ricocheted off Andrea Cambiaso, and Michele Di Gregorio had to be alert to keep it out.

Juve regained their bearings and Kenan Yildiz had a go, and this time Neofytos Michael did well to sprawl out to deny him. On the ensuing Juventus corner, Teun Koopmeiners had a free header, but he headed it straight into the ground, and it bounced over the net. Correia crossed in for Vlad Dragomir, who got a touch, but a routine save for Di Gregorio.

Then a Juve turnover led to Dragomir to race down the wing, and he found Anderson who rang a point-blank chance off the post. Then a corner came to Dragomir, and Di Gregorio was forced to another strong save. On a Juve corner, Lloyd Kelly headed it and found Jonathan David, but the Canadian striker turned too hard and shanked his effort wide. That was the last chance of an entertaining, but scoreless first half.

Juve came out with intent for the second half, the ball fell to the Juventus Captain, Manuel Locatelli, but he fired wide. Koopmeiners forced Michael to a save, the rebound came to Yildiz who skied it over the net. Mislav Orsic tried to catch Di Gregorio out from distance, but couldn’t keep it down. Cambiaso delivered a corner but another wayward header let Pafos off, this time off the head of Kelly. Francisco Conceicao did well to settle a ball and race past the Pafos defense, but Michael came to the rescue and cut down the angle for the save.

Finally, the hosts broke down the door. Cambiaso made an innocuous looking pass to Weston McKennie, who beat Michael to the top corner at the near post with a quick release, and in the 67^th minute, Juventus were finally ahead 1-0.

With Pafos being forced to open it up, David Luiz turned it over to Yildiz, leading the Bianconeri on a 3-on-1 rush, eventually finished off by David past a helpless Michael, and Juventus were now up 2-0 just over five minutes after their first goal.

Pafos tried to battle back, Correia put one on goal, but Di Gregorio turned it aside with relative ease. Vasilije Adzic tried to add insult to injury, but Kostas Pileas blocked it off for a corner. Adzic delivered the corner, and Juan Cabal headed it wide. One last chance fell to Jaja to put Pafos on the board, but another near miss kept them off it, and Juventus took the 2-0 win, to the relief of the Juventini in the stands.

Juventus(Luciano Spalletti): 16. Michele Di Gregorio(GK), 15. Pierre Kalulu, 6. Lloyd Kelly, 8. Teun Koopmeiners, 22. Weston McKennie, 5. Manuel Locatelli(Captain)(’60 20. Lois Openda), 21. Fabio Miretti(’74 19. Khephren Thuram), 27. Andrea Cambiaso, 11. Edon Zhegrova(’46 7. Francisco Conceicao), 10. Kenan Yildiz(’84 32. Juan Cabal), 30. Jonathan David(’74 17. Vasilije Adzic)

Pafos FC(Juan Carlos Carcedo): 93. Neofytos Michael(GK), 5. David Goldar(Captain)(’78 2. Kostas Pileas), 4. David Luiz, 23. Derrick Luckassen, 17. Mislav Orsic(’78 11. Jaja), 88. Pepe, 26. Ivan Sunjic, 7. Bruno Felipe, 30. Vlad Dragomir(’78 9. Mons Bassouamina), 77. Joao Correia(’89 25. Bruno Langa), 33. Anderson(’62 8. Quina)

Andrew Mantzas

Twitter: @MantzasNC