Juventus pulls off stunning comeback against RB Leipzig with only 10 men

Juventus ran riot with one of the most exciting games of the Champions League so far this season, beating RB Leipzig 3-2 away from home. Comeback, red card, and an awful lot of fight were involved in this one. This triumph crucial for the competition, Coach Thiago Motta succeeded in keeping the record intact for the Old Lady. 

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Inscredible comeback, with one man down

It isn't easy to start talking about the win of Juventus without mentioning the real decisive fact: the red card for Di Gregorio. A little after the 10 minutes of the second half had passed, the goalkeeper came out of the box to handle the ball among challenges with Openda, and that meant his expulsion. From this point, many teams are going to step back, accept the numerical inferiority, and then hold onto this result. But Juventus is not just any team. Under the command of Thiago Motta, the team presented quite the opposite display of character-aggressive and confident, even with one man less.

Juventus was off to a bad start in light of the early pressure coming from RB Leipzig. The Germans-known for one of the most intensive and fastest games in the world-took the lead at the 30-minute mark of the first half thanks to a technical Sesko, who finished a very precise pass from Openda. Up until then, it seemed like the game went in the direction of an incontestable victory for the home team. On the other hand, an inspired Vlahovic changed the course of the match.

Vlahovic: hero of the night

Of course, Dusan Vlahovic was the name of the game. Criticized in previous matches for low-key performances, the Serbian forward rose to the occasion with his two important goals. Early in the second half, he leveled the match with a well-orchestrated team play by Juventus. Things complicated again in a short while as Juventus gave away a penalty, which Sesko converted to put Leipzig ahead once again.

That was soon followed by the expulsion of Di Gregorio, which might have been the last nail in Juve's coffin. It proved the spark to fire up the full strength of the Italian team. A man down, Vlahovic kept chasing Leipzig's defense and scored his second, capitalizing on a big defensive mistake to tie it again.

The forward's confidence and his nerves of steel, when scoring under pressure, made Juventus, who surprisingly didn't settle for the draw, breathe anew. It was truly a sight to watch in their fighting spirit, even at a numerical disadvantage.

Francisco Conceição's courage

If Vlahovic was the hero to put Juventus back in the game, Francisco Conceição secured that epic win. The young Portuguese scored the winning goal with a precise finish inside the box after a quick attacking move in the 85th minute. Conceição had already shown talent before in previous games but proved that he possesses the coolness to decide big games.

Later, Thiago Motta mentioned in his post-match interview the most important factor of his players: "The keyword was bravery. Bravery from the guys who wanted to keep pressing and creating headaches for the opponent. Even being a man down, that was the sense. We were proud to push forward and do well through to the end."

These words by Motta sum up perfectly what was on the field: Juventus never gave up on fighting for the victory against adversity. The attitude, mixed with technical quality, such as from Vlahovic and Conceição, was the key to this final result.