Atletico Madrid 2-2 Juventus: 4 players who impressed for the Bianconeri | UEFA Champions League 2019/2020

Atletico Madrid v Juventus: Group D - UEFA Champions League
Atletico Madrid v Juventus: Group D - UEFA Champions League

Juventus saw a two-goal lead slip at the Wanda Metropolitano after Atletico Madrid's Hector Herrera stepped off the bench to equalize for the hosts in the last minute of regular time.

Both sides had been less than stellar in their respective fixtures over the weekend, with Atletico falling to their first defeat of the campaign away to Real Sociedad while Juventus were dour in their goalless stalemate with Fiorentina.

In what was a largely tactical first half, both teams went into the break with the scores level, but the game rolled on its head when Juan Cuadrado opened the scoring just after the restart.

It was soon 2-0, and Juventus were seemingly coasting on their way to victory. However, the Bianconeri have shown a penchant for weaknesses on set-pieces, while their defense has not oozed confidence in the absence of captain Giorgio Chiellini.

After threatening on multiple occasions through set-plays, Atletico finally got a deserved goal when Stefan Savic nodded home from a Jose Gimenez flick, and former Porto man Herrera completed the comeback when he headed into the net from a Kieran Trippier corner.

The result meant both sides had a share of the spoils and are playing catchup to Lokomotiv Moscow in Group D after matchday 1.

Despite seeing a two-goal lead slip, Maurizio Sarri would have been impressed with the performance of a number of his players.

Here are four Juventus players who impressed the most against Atletico Madrid.


#4 Cristiano Ronaldo

Atletico Madrid v Juventus: Group D - UEFA Champions League
Atletico Madrid v Juventus: Group D - UEFA Champions League

Cristiano Ronaldo has been a constant thorn in the flesh of Atletico Madrid, and when the Portuguese icon departed Real Madrid last summer, Los Colchoneros must have thought they had seen the last of him.

However, the 34-year-old starred with a rousing hat-trick to eliminate the Spaniards last season, and fans of the club would have been fearing the worst when they were once again paired with the Madeira native in the group stage.

Though he failed to add to his tally of 25 goals against Atletico Madrid, Ronaldo still shone brightly in the stalemate.

He played a part in the buildup to Juventus' second goal, combining excellently with Alex Sandro for the Brazilian to set up Blaise Matuidi and should have had at least a goal for himself. In total, Ronaldo had three shots against the LaLiga side, with two of those on target.

He completed an impressive 90.2% of his attempted 42 passes and could have snatched a late winner but dragged his shot narrowly wide after a remarkable solo run.

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#3 Blaise Matuidi

Blaise Matuidi scored the second goal of the match
Blaise Matuidi scored the second goal of the match

Blaise Matuidi put Juventus 2-0 up when he headed home an Alex Sandro cross in the 65th minute to open his goals account for the campaign and it was a just reward for what was an all-round brilliant performance from the World Cup winner.

The 32-year-old was omnipresent in the midfield battle, hassling the Atletico midfielders and barely giving them space or time on the ball to dictate proceedings.

Matuidi had three shots in the game, with two of those hitting the target, while he also discharged his defensive duties, making an interception and clearance each.

Given his physicality, there were doubts over whether Matuidi would fit into Maurizio Sarri's more intricate style of play, but on the evidence of what we have seen go far, the former PSG man would be an integral part of the 60-year-old's revolution in Turin.

#2 Alex Sandro

Sandro combined his forward runs with defensive solidity
Sandro combined his forward runs with defensive solidity

Alex Sandro is easily one of the best full-backs in the world but does not readily get the acclaim his performances deserve.

The 28-year-old has been a loyal and dedicated servant to the Bianconeri cause since arriving Turin from Porto in 2015 and has played a major role in all of the successes enjoyed by the club in this time.

The Brazilian international combines attacking impetus with defensive astuteness, and both sides of his game were in full display against Atletico.

He completed three interceptions and made four clearances, while also contributing to his side's attacking channel with three key passes, four accurate long balls, and five crosses.

It was Alex Sandro's pin-point delivery in the 65th minute that found the head of Matuidi, while the Copa America winner also completed 95.4% of his 65 attempted passes which was second to only Miralem Pjanic's 97.3% pass accuracy among Juventus players.

#1 Juan Cuadrado

Cuadrado opened the scoring with a thunderbolt
Cuadrado opened the scoring with a thunderbolt

There were a number of impressive players across the two teams in the game between Atletico and Juventus, but none was arguably as impressive as Juan Cuadrado.

The 31-year-old was started on the right flank of a midfield four, and from this position, he continuously tormented Renan Lodi who was given the arduous task of marking the Colombian international on a day when he was in exceptional form.

Cuadrado opened the scoring in exquisite fashion, picking up a pass from Gonzalo Higuain, before drifting past Lodi as though he was nonexistent and rifled home a pile driver from 20-yards into the Atletico Madrid goal which Jan Oblak was powerless to stop.

Furthermore, he laid on two key passes in the game, while also tracking back to help out with defending and made three tackles in the match in addition to two interceptions and one clearance.

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Edited by Kaushik Das
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