At the Groupama Aréna in Budapest, Hungarian champions Ferencvaros welcomed their Italian counterparts Juventus in Matchday 3 of the Champions League group stage, as the sight of the fans present inside the stadium offered a pleasant surprise to the viewers at home. Thanks to an early goal, the Bianconeri were never troubled on their way to a comfortable 4-1 victory, with Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala both earning braces.
Ferencvaros coach Sergei Rebrov started with Isael in attack, supported by Tokmac Nguen and Oleksandr Zubkov, whilst Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo opted for a 4-3-3 formation, with the returning captain Giorgio Chiellini playing alongside Leonardo Bonucci, Danilo and Juan Cuadrado in defense.
Adrien Rabiot, Arthur, and Aaron Ramsey made up the midfield, while Federico Chiesa was given the opportunity to support Morata and Cristiano Ronaldo who made his first Champions League start of the season.
Ore 21 ⏳
— JuventusFC (@juventusfc) November 4, 2020
Si scende in campo!
E lo faremo così ??#FerencvarosJuve #JuveUCL pic.twitter.com/l1gDi3ugXJ
It only took the on-form Morata seven minutes to open the scoring in Hungary. Bonucci’s long ball released Cuadrado on the right, who ran straight to the goal-line and delivered a pass to the mouth of the goal. Ronaldo was about to try his luck with a cheeky back-flick, but eventually dummied as it went to the path of the Spaniard who tapped the ball into the net.
Despite the early goal, the first half turned out to be a quiet affair, with only one other major opportunity to speak of. In the 35th minute, Morata found himself through on goal, but instead of trying his luck against the Ferencvaros goalkeeper Dénes Dibusz, he passed it to Ronaldo who was making a run to his left. The defenders reacted quickly and denied Juventus a second goal before half time.
After the break, the Portuguese megastar would try his luck twice. On the first occasion, his free-kick delivery lacked power and precision as the goalkeeper easily saved it. And on the second, a terrible back-pass allowed him the chance to run at goal, and while he tried to slot it low into the far post, his angle was too tight, and thus the ball went just wide off target.
Though he didn’t score, Ronaldo would successfully play the provider role as he passed the ball from the right side to substitute Weston McKennie who made his run to the box. The young American dummied it, and once again the ball reached Morata who splendidly curled it into the far corner to make it 2-0.
The former Real Madrid man would leave his place on the pitch for Paulo Dybala, who in turn scored a brace of his own. The Ferencvaros shot-stopper failed to control a back pass from his defender, and the Juventus forward rolled the ball into the empty net to open his scoring account for the season.
6 – Paulo Dybala is the only player to have scored in each of the last six Champions League seasons with Juventus. Certainty.#FerencvarosJuve #UCL
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) November 4, 2020
Few minutes later, another terrible mistake by Dibusz gifted La Joya his second goal of the night. The goalkeeper passed the ball straight to Dybala, and although he tried to make up for it by saving the shot, the Argentine put so much power into it that it ended up going through Dibusz and just enough to cross the line.
And just when we thought the night was over for Ferencvaros, the Hungarian minnows caught the Juventus defense napping, as a fumble inside the Italian box allowed Franck Boli to shoot from the inside. Wojciech Szczęsny makes a great save on it, but Boli reacted fastest and tapped in the rebound, and the Hungarian side celebrated their consolation goal.
In the end, Juventus were able to continue their mini-revival which started last Sunday against Spezia, with yet another 4-1 victory, taking advantage of the slightly easier fixtures.
MATCH REPORT
November 4, 2020 – Champions League 2020-21 Group Stage
FERENCVAROS-JUVENTUS 1-4
SCORERS: 7′ Morata (J), 60′ Morata (J), 73′ Dybala (J), 81′ Dybala (J), 90′ Boli (F)
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FERENCVAROS (4-3-3): Dibusz; Lovrencsics, Blazic, Dvali, Botka (69′ Heister); Zubkov (80′ Uzuni), Siger, Kharatin, Somalia, Nguen (75′ Mak); Isael (74′ Boli) (Szecsi, Ori, Frimpong, Kovacevic, Baturina) Coach: Rebrov |
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JUVENTUS (3-4-1-2): Szczesny; Bonucci, Chiellini, Danilo; Cuadrado (77′ Frabotta), Arthur (46′ Bentancur), Rabiot, Chiesa (76′ Bernardeschi); Ramsey (53′ st McKennie); Morata (67′ Dybala), Cristiano Ronaldo (Buffon, Pinsoglio, Portanova, Kulusevski, Riccio) Coach: Pirlo |
REFEREE: Grinfeld (Israel)
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Botka (F); Extra Time: 1st Half 1′, 2nd Half 3′
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