Joshosaurus' Wanderings

Juventus vs Tottenham Hotspur

21^st July 2019, 7.30pm

International Champions Cup @ Singapore National Stadium

When Juve and Spurs last met, it was on 8^th March 2018 (GMT +8), the second leg of the round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League, which Juve duly won 2-1 courtesy of goals from Higuaín and Dybala to put us into the quarterfinals. It was a match that exhibited much grinta, great defensive prowess, tall leadership from San Gigi, and lithe attacking channels.

There was no repeat of this here in Singapore 16 months on from that fateful Champions League night, with Juve findings themselves up against one of the Premier League’s brightest attacking teams, all of 1 week into pre- season, with a new manager at the helm; and lacking attacking sparks like Dybala, Costa, Kean.

Now in the warm and humid night of tropical Singapore, amid a sea of 55,043 spectators at the Singapore National Stadium, Juventus emerged from the hallway first to warm up 30 minutes prior to the match, resulting in great cheers all around the stadium, and with fans breaking out into a rendition of Paolo Belli’s ‘Juve (storia di un grande amore)’.

The mister, Maurizio Sarri, opted to start with an aggressive 4- 3- 3 formation, attempting to make his mark with ‘Sarri- ball’ with Buffon (yay!) back in the fold as the starting keeper; Bonucci and Rugani in the middle of defence flanked by Joao Cancelo and De Sciglio; Can, Pjanic and Matuidi in the centre of the park; with Mandžukić, Ronaldo and Bernadeschi up front. Kept on the bench were: goalies Szczęsny, Pinsoglio, Loria; defenders De Ligt (finally, his first appearance!), Demiral, Di Pardo, Coccolo, Beruatto; mids Rabiot, Kastanos, Toure, Muratore and Perreira; and forwards Higuaín, Frederiksen and Mavididi.

Tottenham went with a 3- 5- 2 formation, with starters Gazzaniga; Walker-Peters, Alderweireld, Tanganga, Georgiou; Winks, Skipp, Lamela; Dele; Son, Parrott.

What ensued was a torrid affair, as the team’s pre- season rust and lack of chemistry reared its ugly head. Wayward passes, offsides, horrendous shooting, miscommunications. And thus, Juve kicked off its preseason with an unfortunate 3-2 loss.

Ronaldo kicked the match off with an epic bicycle attempt but to no avail. And Spurs later opened with a decent chance in the 3^rd minute, with Korean Son breaking away from the Juventus backline down the left after Maituidi was dispossessed by Skipp, but was denied by our legend in goal Gigi Buffon.

Juventus came up with the next chance after most of the opening 10 minutes saw Spurs parked in Juve’s half. Cancelo did well to intercept Spurs on the right flank, to pass onto Pjanic who flicked the ball into Ronaldo’s path in the box. However, instead of taking the shot first time, he opted for the control to allow Spurs to recover the ball.

Spurs took the lead in the 30^th minute after dominating since the opening, as a rapid breakaway from the Spurs team left Juve defending with 3 against 4. Son laid the ball beautifully off for Parrott who took the chance, and Buffon came up tops first but laid it in the path of Lamela who opened the scoring for Spurs with a simple tap in.

Juventus went into the break trailing 1-0, and they emerged revitalized, with Sarri making some changes to the squad. Buffon came off, and Szczęsny took his place, much to the vitriol of Spurs fans who have clearly not forgotten his Arsenal days. Demiral came on for Rugani, Higuaín for Mandžukić, and Rabiot came on for Can.

Soon after, Spurs were left fuming after Moura was hacked down in the Juventus box, and the referee proceeded to point for a goal kick instead of a penalty. This left more of a bitter aftertaste in Spur’s fans as Juventus equalized in the 56^th minute via Higuaín after a neat one- two with Bernadeschi. Soon after in the 60^th minute, Juve took the lead via Ronaldo after a low De Sciglio cross, leaving Gazzaniga with no chance. Ronaldo celebrated with his famed celebration, with local fans being well familiar with this as well, cheering ‘si!’ as Ronaldo spun and landed.

More substitute changes were made, as Pereira came on for Ronaldo (much to the displeasure of the star man), and De Ligt for Bonucci. Spurs also made changes, bringing on record signing Ndombele for Winks who then made an instant impact by first intercepting a rubbish clearance by De Sciglio, and immediately assisting Moura with a through ball for the equalizer in the 65^th minute.

More chances came and went begging, with first Bernadeschi misfiring from the edge of the box in the 68^th minute, and later Higuaín in the 83^rd minute who painfully missed a sitter with a shot low to his left which just ended up on the wrong site of the post, after a neat ball from the flanks by Kastanos who had just come on minutes ago.

As extra time loomed, Spurs captain and later man of the match Kane produced a miracle goal from the halfway line. Kane spotted Szczęsny way off his line, stepped into the path of an interception by a fellow teammate, and audaciously long- lobbed him with his first touch, putting the ball into the Juve goal in the dying minutes of injury time.

And it was thus that Juve lost their first match of pre- season, to an absolute moment of magical brilliance by Harry Kane. Juventus were nowhere near match ready, and it will take quite some time for ‘Sarri- ball’ to be fully implemented, but hopefully as the season draws on, that Juve will unleash its attacking spirit and couple that with tactical prowess and defensive solidity that the De Ligt signing will bring.

That being said, it felt really good to see San Gigi back in Juve colours after a year away.