Juventus started their Champions League campaign with a comfortable 2-0 victory at home over Malmö. A second half brace from their star striker Carlos Tévez guaranteed the Italian champions all three points, though the margin of victory could and should have been much greater.
Juventus vs. Malmö, 2014 UEFA Champions League: Final score 2-0, Juve earn deserved victory
A brace from Carlos Tévez saw Juventus earn a deserved victory over Malmö in their Champions League opener.
The pattern for the game was set very early on, with Juve dominating possession while their Swedish visitors packed their defense and looked to strike on the counter-attack. Though Malmö only seriously managed to test Gianluigi Buffon once throughout the entire first half -- when Magnus Eriksson was denied at the near post after 18 minutes -- they would've been broadly pleased with their performance at the interval.
That's because they successfully managed to frustrate Juventus, with their back five doing a good job at crowding out the bianconeri attackers in the box. When Juve did threaten, it was usually from the wide areas, with Stephan Lichtsteiner and Patrice Evra both delivering dangerous crosses into the box inside the first 10 minutes. However, Malmö's strength in numbers meant a defender was usually on hand to avert the danger before a Juve attacker could pounce.
Only near the end of the first half did Juve really turn up the heat, and spend the game camped in the final third. Still, they had nothing to show for their dominance, with the final pass agonizingly lacking. Their best opportunity came when Lichtsteiner danced into the box in the final minute of normal time, though no one was on hand to tuck his square pass into the empty net.
The second half started in a similar fashion: despite repeated knocks, Juve couldn't break the Malmö door down. That was until they finally found the breakthrough just short of the hour mark, when a largely-anonymous Tévez sprung to life and worked a wonderful one-two with Kwadwo Asamoah before rolling the ball into the back of the net.
After opening the scoring, Juve started to play with much more freedom. It momentarily looked like they’d doubled their advantage within four minutes of taking the lead, though Fernando Llorente’s goal was chalked off for offside. Still, Malmö had to be wary of the floodgates opening, with their hosts looking more dangerous than ever.
Juve again went close to adding a second with 20 minutes left on the clock, though the lively Lichtsteiner's header bounced into the ground and over the crossbar. Seven minutes later they carved out an even better chance, though Paul Pogba arrived into the box fractionally too late, and couldn't get on the end of Evra's perfect low cross. The best opportunity of all fell to Llorente in the 83rd minute, though the Spaniard saw his header from point-blank range parried away.
Eventually Juve did put the game to bed, with Tévez sealing his brace in the final minute of normal time. An excellent curling free-kick from the edge of the penalty area sailed into the back of the net, and guaranteed a deserved victory. On another day, the margin of victory could have been considerably greater.
Juventus: Buffon; Chiellini, Bonucci, Cáceres; Evra, Pogba, Marchisio, Asamoah, Lichtsteiner (Lichtsteiner 90+1’); Tévez (Giovinco 90+1’), Llorente (Morata 86’).
Goals: (Tévez 59’, 90’).
Malmö: Olsen; Helander, Halsti, Johansson; Konate, Forsberg, Eriksson (Rakip 82’), Tinnerholm; Adu; Thelin (Kroon 73’), Rosenberg (Mehmeti 53’).
Goals: None.
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