Juventus didn’t have anything to play for on Wednesday, but they still managed to get the win.
In this match, it was actually Bayer Leverkusen who needed 3 points to have a chance to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League. They played like a team desperate for a win, but in the end Juve was able to get the job done.
The match was played very openly to start out, with both teams trying to get out to a quick start. Neither team was able to create anything too dangerous until Karim Bellarabi unleashed a shot from the right wing that required a nice save from Gianluigi Buffon. That save would keep the match scoreless until halftime.
In the second half, it once again took a while for either team to create a dangerous chance, but this time Juve would make it count. In the 75th minute, Miralem Pjanic played a perfect ball over the top to spring Paulo Dybala loose on the left wing, who then played a perfect cross, setting Cristiano Ronaldo up perfectly for an easy finish. They weren’t done.
Two minutes into stoppage time, Paulo Dybala ran at the defense with the ball, but was stopped. The ball bounced right to an open Gonzalo Higuain who buried the shot from the edge of the box, giving Juve the 2-0 win.
GK: Gianluigi Buffon 7/10
Well, this was definitely better than Gianluigi Buffon’s last start. He wasn’t asked to do much, but the one save he did need to make was impressive. This is probably the last Champions League match we’ll see Buffon play for Juve, so it was nice to at least see him go out with a good performance.