MY ACCOUNT
Italy international Andrea Belotti scored in his first start since November to deny Juventus all three points as Torino held them to a 1-1 draw at Allianz Stadium on Friday.
A first-half header from Matthijs de Ligt was cancelled out by Belotti’s equaliser in the second half, leaving the Old Lady eight points behind Serie A leaders Milan having played a game more.
Belotti is out of contract at the end of the season and is expected to leave Torino, but the fans will wish him well if this proves his final contribution to the Turin derby.
Meanwhile, Massimiliano Allegri will not have been impressed with the showing from his side ahead of their Champions League round-of-16 first leg at Villarreal on Tuesday.
Juve suffered a blow before the game kicked off with Daniele Rugani injured in the warm-up and replaced at centre-back by Alex Sandro, with Luca Pellegrini starting at left-back.
Torino made a strong start and would have been ahead were it not for Wojciech Szczesny’s slight touch on a Josip Brekalo cross, taking it away from a waiting Belotti.
However, it was Juve who took the lead on 13 minutes when a looping Juan Cuadrado corner was headed in at the far post by De Ligt, who arrived with a towering leap.
The visitors began the second half well, too, and were level when Brekalo – who was a thorn in Juve’s right side all game – got to the byline and found Belotti, whose close-range shot squirmed under Szczesny’s hand.
It was Torino who pushed for another goal until the final 10 minutes when the hosts finally came back to life, but they were unable to find a winner.
What does it mean? Old Lady refuse to enter Scudetto race
While Allegri has been at pains to state his team are already too far off the pace as far as the Serie A title goes, Juve have turned down numerous opportunities to get back into it of late, having drawn three of their past four league games.
The January signings of Dusan Vlahovic and Denis Zakaria were expected to give them a boost on all fronts, but that was not particularly evident, with neither having much influence on their first Turin derby.
Should Milan, Inter and Napoli pick up points this weekend, it will surely spell the end of Juve’s Scudetto hopes, which will make their upcoming Champions League tie in Spain even more important.
Brekalo runs the show
With so many star names on display, few will have had Brekalo down as the man to watch, but perhaps Juve should have watched him more as he terrorised them down their right side.
The Croatian – on loan from Wolfsburg – grabbed an assist as well as making three key passes and putting in seven open-play crosses to keep the home side’s backline busy.
Goals on paper but not on grass for Juve
Juventus have now found the net in each of their past 22 Serie A games against Torino – the last time they ended a Turin derby without scoring was in February 2008 (0-0 under Claudio Ranieri).
However, it was up to a centre-back to find the net as, despite starting with a front three of Vlahovic, Paolo Dybala and Alvaro Morata, Allegri’s men rarely looked like scoring, only managing three shots on target in total and none in the second half.
Key Opta Facts
– Juventus have drawn four of their past six derbies against Torino played in the second half of a Serie A season (W2).
– Andrea Belotti has scored four Serie A goals against Juventus, even if this was his first non-penalty goal against the Bianconeri in the competition since December 2016.
– Juan Cuadrado delivered his first Serie A assist this season, with his 35th chance created.
– Juve have scored each of their past nine Serie A goals with different players.
– Josip Brekalo has been involved in four of Torino’s most recent goals in Serie A, but this was his first assist in the competition (his previous league assist was last August against Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga).
What’s next?
Juventus travel to Villarreal for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash on Tuesday before a visit to Empoli in the league next Saturday. Torino host Cagliari a week on Sunday.
