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Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur shared the spoils in a tightly contested 2-2 draw in Turin. The first leg of the round of 16 between the two in-form sides turned out to be a cracker of a contest with Spurs emerging with the upper hand as a result of two away goals.
Gonzalo Higuain scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the game. Harry Kane pulled one back in the 35th minute. Higuain then missed a chance to register a treble when he missed a spot kick right on the edge of halftime. Christian Eriksen made it 2-2 in the final quarter of the game with a smart free kick.
It was an intriguing match-up with many individual battles catching the eye. So, without further ado, let's take a look at the player ratings from the 2-2 humdinger of a Champions League game between Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur:
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Tottenham Hotspur
Hugo Lloris: 6/10
Lloris got a hand to both the goals that Higuain scored in the first few minutes. He then saw the Argentine's penalty crash against the crossbar but had guessed it correctly. The captain made a fine save against Bernardeschi and also recovered brilliantly for Bentancur's deflected shot.
Serge Aurier: 3/10
Aurier has a tendency to make reckless tackles and the same thing happened against Juventus when his late tackle brought Costa down and led to a Juventus penalty. Luckily for him and Spurs, Higuain missed from the spot. Aurier also got booked in the second half and will now miss the home leg through suspension.
Davinson Sanchez: 5/10
The youngster looked extremely shaky at times. It does happen in a high voltage game against a mighty opponent but the 21 year old was beaten far too easily by Higuain at times. Sanchez also could not get the hold of Costa when he won the second penalty.
Jan Vertonghen: 7/10
The Belgian had to calm down the proceedings after a torrid start. He managed that well by bailing Spurs out of danger and handling Higuain pretty well in the latter stages of the game. His timely intervention late in the game was crucial.
Ben Davies: 4/10
The magnitude of the situation got the better of Davies in this one. The full-back gave away a penalty after a late challenge on Bernardeschi. Davies was having a really tough time against the Juventus winger. He was also substandard with his passing, an area which is often considered his strongest.
Eric Dier: 6/10
Dier had a lot to do in shielding his defence. He did that brilliantly and proved to be a tough hurdle for Juventus to get past. But Dier was particularly poor in recycling the ball and gave away possession on numerous occasions.
Moussa Dembele: 9/10
Consistency has never been Dembele's forte but he proved that wrong against Juventus. After a stellar outing against Arsenal, Dembele ran the show in Turin. He carried the ball forward with intent and the Juventus midfield seemed to have no answers against him. But it was also his foul on Pjanic in the first minute that led to Higuain opening the scoring. Nevertheless, he was the best player on the field!
Dembele's game in numbers:
Touches: 116
Passes: 99
Passing accuracy: 94.9%
Dribbles: 6
Christian Eriksen: 8/10
Eriksen was Spurs' go-to guy on the night. He was always looking to make something happen and proved to be the biggest worry for Juventus. He delivered a pinpoint cross to Kane in the first half which was saved. His own shot went wide off the mark.
Eriksen then scored a stunning low freekick in the second half to net a well-deserved equalizer for his side. No one deserved that goal more than the Dane!
Erik Lamela: 6/10
The Argentinian was a surprise inclusion by Pochettino in the playing eleven. However, he did not disappoint his boss by producing an industrious display. Lamela never stopped running and helped his side out in attack and in defence. He also played a crucial role in the buildup to the second goal.
Dele Alli: 7/10
It was Alli's pass that released Kane through on goal and it was Alli again who won the freekick for the second goal. He also had a chance of his own but skewed his header from an Eriksen cross. Alli took time to get involved in the game but never shied away from the physical tussles. The youngster was at fault for not marking Higuain for the first goal.
Harry Kane: 8/10
Kane should have scored in the 26th minute but his pinpoint header was saved by Buffon. He made amends nine minutes later and became the first player to score against Juventus in 2018. Kane had numerous other chances to get on the scoresheet and also worked tirelessly on the night.
Substitutions
Son Heung Min: 6/10
Son replaced Alli and continued the aggression and intent that was shown by Alli.
Lucas Moura: N/A
Moura finally made his debut for Tottenham but it was too late in the game for him to have any sort of impact.
Victor Wanyama: N/A
Wanyama entered the field in stoppage time.
Juventus
Gianluigi Buffon: 5/10
Buffon was at his best until Harry Kane scored the first goal for Tottenham. It went all downhill for him after that just as it did for Juventus. Buffon was at fault for the Eriksen freekick and also spilt a Harry Kane shot from distance. But the veteran did make two fine saves against Kane.
Mattia De Sciglio: 5/10
De Sciglio had his hands full with the likes of Erik Lamela, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen taking turns to influence the proceedings from his flank. He did decently in defence but would have hoped for a better outing attacking wise.
Mehdi Benatia: 4/10
An early booking led Benatia to be on the back foot for the rest of the game. He struggled against the pace of Alli and Eriksen and looked susceptible throughout the night. Juventus would hope to have Andrea Barzagli fit for the second leg.
Giorgio Chiellini: 5/10
Chiellini did manage to overpower Harry Kane at times but the striker got the better of him for the first goal and on numerous other occasions. The Juventus warhorse never looked his confident self on the night and also conceded the freekick from which Eriksen scored.
Alex Sandro: 6/10
The left-back was Juventus' best defender on the night. He handled the double threat of Aurier and Lamela and also contributed going forward. His presence in the Tottenham half made life tough for the visitors.
Sami Khedira: 3/10
A poor performance from the German midfielder. He was bypassed far too easily and Dembele had an upper hand over him during his entire stay on the field. Juventus needed a big performance in midfield which wasn't meant to be from Khedira who was later substituted in the second half.
Miralem Pjanic: 5/10
Pjanic delivered a brilliant ball for Higuain to score the opening goal but other than that, the Bosnian failed to imprint his authority on the game. Juventus' midfield let them down as Pjanic often looked second best in 50/50 challenges with his passing also not being at its' usual high level.
Douglas Costa: 6/10
The Brazilian displayed his insane pace to get past Aurier and Sanchez and then won the second penalty for Juventus. His pace could have seriously exposed Serge Aurier in the remainder of the match but for some reason Costa did not get as involved as expected. Other than winning the spot kick, Costa had a silent night.
Federico Bernardeschi: 6/10
The former Fiorentina man looked threatening whenever he received the opportunity to get on his left foot and drift inside. He dominated Davies on the right wing and also won the first penalty. But without the ball, Bernardeschi found it tough to cope with the Spurs attackers.
Mario Mandzukic: 6/10
Mandzukic offered a brilliant cover to Alex Sandro on the left wing but did not contribute offensively as he would have hoped for. Juventus also did not play to his strengths to get the best out of the Croatian. He hobbled off in the second half and is said to be a doubt for the second leg.
Gonzalo Higuain: 8/10
Pipito should have had a hattrick in the first half itself. He scored two with utmost disdain but failed to hit his second penalty on target. The forward dropped deep and ran with the ball brilliantly at times. But Higuain faded as the game went on and hardly had any chance in the second interval. Higuain also received a booking for over protesting.
Substitutions
Rodrigo Bentancur: 6/10
The midfielder brought some solidity to the midfield after replacing Khedira. He could have scored the winner for Juventus but his angled and deflected shot was saved smartly by Lloris.
Stefano Sturaro: 5/10
Replacing Mandzukic, Sturaro played the final quarter of the game. He had just the five touches on the ball and was largely anonymous.
Kwadwo Asamoah: N/A
Asamoah had no time on the field to have any sort of impact.
