Penalti Vlahovic Saves Juventus, Thiago Motta: Disappointed But Focuses On Derby

JAKARTA - Juventus again failed to get full points after being detained by Lille 1-1 in European competition. In the Champions League match at the Pierre-Mauroy Stade Decathlon Arena, Wednesday 6 November 2024 in the morning WIB, Juve almost lost before being saved by Dusan Vlahovic's penalty.

Lille played solidly which made it difficult for Juve to dominate the game. Even Juve, who played in this away match, conceded a goal in the first half.

Luckily there was a Dusan Vlahovic striker who managed to save Juve from defeat after scoring from the penalty spot. Juve were at least able to get a point in that match.

These results made Juve again fail to get full points. Previously, the Bianconeri had to admit the 1-0 advantage of Stuttgart. Only being able to get one point in the last two matches in European competition put Juve stuck in 10th place with seven points.

Meanwhile, Lille managed to improve his position. The French Ligue 1 club has the same points as Juve. But Lille lost the goal difference to occupy the 12th position.

This unsatisfactory achievement made coach Thiago Motta disappointed. Although he said he was happy with the team's performance, he was not satisfied with the final result of the match. Moreover, Juve was less clinical and was unable to show his goal-scoring ability. Even the only goal that equalized the score was created from the penalty spot.

"I'm happy with the performance of the players, but I'm disappointed with the final result. We deserve more than just a draw," Motta was quoted as saying by Football Italia.

"But it must be admitted that we face opponents who have a good game organization and defend very well. They even have the opportunity to beat us," he said.

According to him, the opponent's goal was entirely the fault of the player himself. However, he stated that Juve immediately focused on facing Torino in the Derby della Mole (Turin Derby) in the Italian Serie A competition.

"The goal is more due to our own mistakes. We should also be more aggressive when we lose the ball. We also have difficulties when building games from the center. This makes us take advantage of the width of the field and carry out attacks through the wings. This is supported by full back covering attacks," Motta explained.

"Whatever I am still satisfied with. Now, we focus on the next match which is a derby. We want to do our best. I see that there have been good developments from this team," he said.

Meanwhile, Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier admits that Juve actually played better. They were lucky to be able to take points from that game.

"We can't lie. We really don't deserve to win. This result is good enough," said Chevalier, who performed brilliantly by making many saves.

In that match, Juve did play better than Lille. Even La Vecchia Totaled the lead when Vlahovic scored after finishing a pass from Teun Koopmeiners in the 24th minute. But the goal was ruled out because Vlahovic was in an offside position.

Not long ago or three minutes later, Lille, who managed to break into Juve's goal. Striker Jonathan David beat Michele goalkeeper Di Gregorio through a counter-attack that led to Edon Zhegrova and then forwarded it to David.

Left behind 1-0, Juve became more aggressive in suppressing Lille's defense. Even for 10 minutes before the first half ended, goalkeeper Chevalier made a number of saves. He sensationally thwarted Vlahovic's shot.

Furthermore, Koopmeiners broke into the host's goal in the 42nd minute. But again, the goal was disallowed because his colleague Kenan Yildiz was in an offside position before releasing the cross which Koopmeiners welcomed.

Juve finally broke the deadlock after an hour of the game. Because the visitors were awarded a penalty after midfielder Benjamin Andre brought down Francisco Conceicao in the box. The referee pointed to the spot and Vlahovic completed the execution.

The score changed to 1-1. No more goals were created even though Juve created a number of chances. The draw lasted until the game was over.