3 things we learned from Juventus’ 3-1 comeback win over Sevilla

Juventus played almost an hour of football with an extra man at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán on Tuesday, though it took them until the dying moments of the match to assume the lead in an eventual 3-1 victory over Sevilla. The Spanish side took the lead through Nico Pareja early on, though a Franco Vázquez red card and a Claudio Marchisio penalty conversion combined to turn the tide. Juve huffed and puffed, though only took the lead through a Leonardo Bonucci effort with just over five minutes left, shortly before Mario Mandžukić iced the cake with a third. The Italian outfit are now through to the knockout stages.

The final scoreline rather flatters Juve, with Sevilla’s early opening goal having been well-deserved. The Spanish hosts started the game with the adventure characteristic of a Jorge Sampaoli side, and broke the deadlock from a rather unlikely source when defender Pareja caught a looping block low on the volley from the edge of the area. It skidded off the turf and inside Gianluigi Buffon’s post, and was the veteran Argentine’s first European goal since he netted for Belgian outfit Anderlecht in the Champions League over a decade ago.

The hosts remained in the ascendancy, and almost added a second when a wild Sergio Escudero effort dipped just over Buffon’s top corner. Juve struggled to maintain possession in the rare moments they won it back, and striker Mandžukić looked particularly isolated in attack.

But gradually, Sevilla’s intensity waned, and Juve’s more patient approach began to produce openings. They went close just short of the half-hour, when Mandžukić curled wide from the edge of the area. A few minutes later Juan Cuadrado pulled a dangerous low cross from the right, though the onrushing Sami Khedira was unable to steer it home from the edge of the box.

And yet in spite of their improvement, Juve didn’t earn parity so much as Sevilla gifted it to them. Two moments of stupidity within 36 minutes earned a first-half red card for attacker Vázquez, enabling the Italians to gain a stranglehold for the first time in the match.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Gabriel Mercado was spotted tugging the shirt of Leonardo Bonucci amid the chaos of a corner kick in stoppage time before the break. Referee Mark Clattenburg pointed to the spot, and Marchisio duly stepped up to equalise.

Juve carried that momentum into the second half, and Sevilla certainly started to feel the strain. Coach Sampaoli was sent to the stands for his excessive gesticulation down on the touchline soon after the restart, in yet another manifestation of the hosts’ over-excitement. Meanwhile, the visitors generally dominated possession, but didn’t go close to taking the lead until a low Miralem Pjanić drive drew a stop from Sergio Rico past the hour.

Indeed, the Italian outfit were rather underwhelming in their efforts to snatch the victory, with Sevilla’s reshuffled defence initially proving adequate to withstand the challenge. Instead, it took took a moment of sheer individual brilliance from defender Bonucci for Juve to take the lead, with the Italian international driving a loose ball beyond Rico from distance with the final whistle in sight.

Sevilla threw men forward in desperate search of an equaliser, but it wasn’t to be; things only went from bad to worse for the hosts when Mandžukić signed and sealed Juve’s win by rolling the ball inside Rico’s far post in stoppage time.

Sevilla: Sergio Rico; Gabriel Mercado, Nicolás Pareja, Adil Rami; Sergio Escudero, Vitolo, Steven N’Zonzi, Vicente Iborra, Mariano Ferreira (Matías Kranevitter 77’); Luciano Vietto (Pablo Sarabia 46’), Franco Vázquez.

Goals: Pareja (9’).

Red cards: Vázquez (36’).

Juventus: Gianluigi Buffon; Patrice Evra (Stefano Sturaro 73’), Daniele Rugani, Leonardo Bonucci, Dani Alves; Miralem Pjanić (Moise Kean 84’), Claudio Marchisio, Sami Khedira; Alex Sandro, Mario Mandžukić, Juan Cuadrado (Giorgio Chiellini 87’).

Goals: Marchisio (pen. 45+2’), Bonucci (84’), Mandžukić (90+3’).

1. Sevilla’s indiscipline was tantamount to self-destruction

This game’s first quarter could hardly have gone better for Sevilla: Against one of Europe’s top teams they had the lead and a superiority that suggested they weren’t about to relinquish it. They stroked the ball around crisply and created openings with their incessant movement; it was a textbook Jorge Sampaoli display. Skip forward to halftime, however, and their lead had followed attacker Franco Vázquez swiftly down the tunnel; his indiscipline was matched only by that of defender Gabriel Mercado — who gifted the visitors the spot-kick from which they equalised — and their coach, who was sent to the stands early in the second half. If they’re going to go far in this tournament, Sevilla are going to have to show more discipline than they did here.

2. Juve were almost made to pay for their passivity

The flip side of Sevilla’s bright start was that Juve made a pretty lousy one; Max Allegri’s side had hardly been in the game until Mandžukić curled wide from a standing position on the edge of the box shortly before the half-hour. It was a performance that appeared too passive from the Italian champions, who looked lacking in the confidence required to run beyond Sevilla’s defence. Of course, the absences of star strikers Gonzalo Higuaín and Paulo Dybala did not help their course, but Juve were perhaps a little lucky to have been able to get back on terms. They should’ve also created more after they were a man up, and were only bailed out by a brilliant Bonucci goal late on.

3. There could be fireworks on the final matchday

Though this result certainly won’t please Sevilla supporters, it’s excellent news for both Lyon and the neutral onlooker. The win has seen Juve guarantee their place in the knockout stages regardless of what happens on the final matchday; Sevilla, however, will be made to scrap for their Champions League survival. They have to make a tough trip to third-placed Lyon, who know that if they win by two goals or more, they’ll make it through into the final 16 at the Spanish side’s expense. It’s unlikely, but certainly not impossible.