A tletico Madrid scored twice in the final 12 minutes to ensure VAR would not deny them a crucial first-leg lead in their Champions League knockout clash with Juventus. Centre back pairing Jose Maria Gimenez and Diego Godin both netted after Alvaro Morata's header had been controversially ruled out, to earn a 2-0 win at the Wanda Metrapolitano. Despite Diego Simeone stating that he wasn't fit to play a full 90 minutes, Diego Costa returned to the Atletico starting line-up for the first time since December, meaning Chelsea loanee Morata dropped to the bench. Massimiliano Allegri had already revealed that Paulo Dybala would start alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, but was without Sami Khedira after he was discovered to have an irregular heartbeat. In a lively opening twenty minutes, it took Costa just eight to pick up the yellow card he needed to earn a suspension for the second leg, for encroachment in the wall. The visitors threatened, Ronaldo forcing Jan Oblak to palm over the bar with a rocket of a free-kick from range, before Leonardo Bonucci powered a free header over the bar. Atletico thought they'd been given the chance to edge ahead from the spot when Mattia De Sciglio tripped a rampaging Costa, but VAR correctly ruled that the contact had taken place outside the box, with none of the farcical delay seen elsewhere across Europe on the night, nor the controvery that was to follow here. Antoine Griezmann pulled a camera save out of Wojciech Szczesny from the resulting free-kick, but the game began to settle into the tight pattern most had been predicting when two of Europe's canniest sides were drawn against each other. The interval, however, jolted things back into life, and Atletico missed two glorious chances to take the lead within ten minutes of the restart. Costa was to blame for wasting the first, sent through by a brilliant first-time pass from Griezmann, only to side-foot wide with Szczesny sat down, but it was the Pole who thwarted the second, somehow reaching back to tip Griezmann's lob onto the crossbar. Costa's typically eventful shift came to an end just before the hour mark, as Simeone sent on Alvaro Morata and, soon after, Thomas Lemar to try and secure a first leg advantage. He thought he'd done the trick, as Morata powered a sensational header home on 70 minutes, only for VAR to once again take centre stage, and this time, in far more debatable circumstances, deciding that the faintest of touches from the Spaniard in the back of Georgio Chiellini - whose exaggerated dive hardly helped - constituted a foul. But Atletico, and an incensed Simeone, were not to be denied, getting the slice of luck they deserved when Mario Manduzkic's corner clearance hricocheted back into danger off Bonucci and Gimenez was first to react. And when his centre back partner, Diego Godin added a second soon after, also profiting from a Mandzukic clearance that barely left the six-yard box, Atletico had the cushion they so craved.<doc-sep>The first legs of the 2018/2019 UCL round of 16 fixtures are over, with some teams having one leg in the quarterfinals, leaving their opponents with a mountain to climb in the second leg. Some other ties are firmly balanced, with the return fixtures still being anybody's game to take. One of the fixtures that was highly anticipated when the draws were made, was that of Atletico Madrid and Juventus, owing to both teams' giant stature in the game and similarity in style of play between both sides. There were also a lot of other underlying factors such as the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo, whose extraterrestrial performances in the UCL over the years played a crucial role in the Bianconerri breaking the bank to sign him. The fixture was seen as a balanced one between two sides of equal strength, but the weighing scale would have tipped the odds in favor of Juventus slightly owing to the presence of the iconic Portuguese. However, in a plot twist, Juventus fell to a 2-0 defeat despite VAR overruling a Morata goal in rather controversial circumstances, leaving the Turin giants with all to do in the second leg. In this piece, we shall be taking a look at four factors which contributed to Juventus losing against Atletico Madrid. #4 Midfield ineffectiveness Dybala was a relative spectator during the match Juventus started the match with a midfield comprised of Rodrigo Bentancur, Blaise Matuidi, Miralem Pjanic, and Paulo Dybala, with the Argentine being the focal point of the midfield charged with linking up play with their attack. On his day, the 25-year-old is one of the most creative players in the world, possessing the ability to unlock any defense with his pinpoint passing and wonderful technique. However, on the day, he was uncharacteristically off-color, being nothing more than a bystander as the match passed him by. Elsewhere in the middle, Pjanic also failed to gain a foothold on the match, as Juventus had a lot of possession, but could not translate that into clear cut chances, leaving Ronaldo to fend for himself alone. By contrast, Koke, Rodri, Saul Niguez, and Thomas Partey were all over the Juventus midfield, overrunning them in the middle of the park and linking up well with their forwards to create chances at goal for their team. The midfield is an important component of any team, and any team's midfielders who fail to execute their duties effectively could pay the price, as Juventus found out at the Wanda Metropolitano. Also see : women's world cup 2019, womens world cup schedule, Womens World Cup Standings 1 / 4 NEXT<doc-sep>Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri during the match. (Source: Reuters) Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri during the match. (Source: Reuters) Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri was typically unruffled after his team were outplayed in their 2-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, saying “these things happen”. But Allegri’s decisions came under scanner after his team were swept aside by the streetwise Spaniards in the second half of their round of 16 first leg, leaving their hopes of winning the competition hanging by a thread. Unbeaten in Serie A this season, Juventus have lost three of their seven Champions League matches and now face a huge task to overturn the deficit in Turin on March 12. In four full seasons at Juventus, Allegri has led his team to four successive league and cup doubles and two Champions League finals. He has managed to rebuild the side following the departure of players such as Paul Pogba, Arturo Vidal and the talismanic pair of Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon. In the past, Allegri has been the one giving the tactical masterclass, such as last season’s round of 16 match against Tottenham Hotspur when he turned the tie around by substituting both fullbacks at the same time. On Wednesday, however, he was outfoxed by opposite number Diego Simeone. Having earlier emphasised the importance of an away goal, Allegri’s first surprise move was when he omitted right back Joao Cancelo even though the Portuguese has become one of Juve’s most impressive attacking weapons this season. Mattia De Sciglio, chosen in his place, was defensively solid but offered little going forward. In the second half, while Simeone made three quickfire substitutions between the 58th and 67th minutes, Allegri waited until the 73rd minute to replace Miralem Pjanic with fellow midfielder Emre Can. The later additions of Cancelo and Federico Bernardeschi – who nearly grabbed a precious away goal when his shot was turned away by Jan Oblak – were too little, too late. Atletico’s goals – in the 78th and 83rd minutes – were both scored while those players were waiting to come on. Allegri admitted his side were caught out. “We played a bad second half, making the mistake of going after them,” he said. “We got the approach wrong in the second half – it’s that simple.” He also conjured up the odd excuse that Atletico have more experience in big matches. “They are more used playing games of this type than us: they remained inside the game even if there were no big jolts, while we made mistakes.” The only consolation was that the return leg had to be better. “We couldn’t be any worse than in the second half, so we must have confidence for the return leg. We knew that Atletico make you play badly, and to beat them you need to stay on top,” he said. “The 2-0 can be overturned, it is useless to cry on it.”<doc-sep>Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has slammed three of his Juve players and has defended Cristiano Ronaldo after the bianconeri's defeat to Atletico Madrid.Ahead of Juve's game against Bologna , Allegri was talking to the press and he said: "Pjanic is half dead, yesterday was in the hands of Christ (laughs) we hope the Lord has sent it back a little better. We'll play Perin, but I still have to see everything. "I have to figure out if Chiellini can rest or not, but the other night the expenditure was not physical. "On Ronaldo, he said: " I have to evaluate. His role in the locker room is that of the best player in the world who transmits serenity, in Madrid he made one of his best performances for the team. "He also talked about his future. He said: "So far I've had a lot of fun at Juventus, when I will not play any more then I'll just stop. work and prepare to the best, then rightly when you lose the fans and the newspapers are free to criticize, that's the time to shut up. "These expectations are higher than the other years, so there's more frustration but there's no need to be In football what happens can only be known at the end of the game."<doc-sep>
Juventus' loss to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night was a blow to their aspirations to win the Champions League but the 2-0 loss also cost the Italian champions over £100 million. Nottingham Forest and Juventus have something in common, they've both been crowned champions of Europe on two occasions. For one of the sides that is a massive overachievement and for the Italians it's an underachievement. Juve have had seven other opportunities to win the European Cup or Champions League having been in seven finals that they have failed to win and they've not won the competition since 1996, with five of their losses coming since. Advert 10 Last summer the Old Lady decided to spend around £90 million to add Cristiano Ronaldo to their team. The former Real Madrid forward has won the competition five times, with two clubs, including the previous three seasons and it was obvious he was brought in to bring the trophy to Turin. So far though Ronaldo has failed to hit form for the Italian's in Europe, scoring just one goal, and on Wednesday night they were beaten 2-0 in the first leg of the last 16 by Atletico Madrid, making it difficult for them to get through to the quarter finals. If that seemed like a big enough blow then it gets worse. The loss saw them drop 11.11% in the stock market. With Forbes last valuation of the club at £1,127 million that means their valuation dropped more that £100 million. Juventus' drop in the stock market. Image: Bloomberg Advert 10 After Ronaldo signed last summer the club saw a huge upturn in fortunes as the shares rose by up to 95% after the signing was confirmed. The former Manchester United winger has started very well in Serie A and bagged himself 19 goals and eight assists in just 24 games and they look likely to win the league for the eighth year in a row. Ronaldo didn't have his best night against Atletico. Image: PA Images Manager Max Allegri came under fire for his tactics with Atleti the much better side, specifically in the second half, but the Italian was in bullish mood for the second leg, saying, "The second half was ugly, as we made the mistake of following their lead. Atleti are very good at letting a game go by without a shot on goal. Advert 10 "We had already run a risk on a counter from a ball we gave away, but we didn't have a shot on target in the second half... "Now we have the chance to turn this around, we must have faith, we'll have some players back and there's no point crying over spilt milk. We knew it was going to be tough, that Atletico Madrid force you to play badly, with a slow tempo. We moved the ball quicker in the first half, but not in the second."