3 things we learned as Juventus knocked Tottenham out of Champions League

One of the most dramatic ties of the Champions League season so far played out in incredible fashion on Wednesday, with Juventus coming back from a 1-0 deficit in the game against Tottenham Hotspur and a 3-2 aggregate score to win the second leg 2-1 and the tie 4-3 thanks to two goals in four minutes in the second half from Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala.

The first half was almost entirely dominated by Tottenham, with Son Heung-Min capping off a long spell of dominance with a goal in the 39th minute to put Spurs into a commanding position in the tie, up 3-2 on aggregate with two away goals serving as a tiebreaker. Spurs had dominated a shockingly disorganized Juventus midfield to control the half, and their front three was making mincemeat of Juventus’ generally-intimidating back line. Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli particularly struggled, with Harry Kane and Son putting in absolutely dominant performances against the pair of veteran Italians.

The second half was a different matter, though. After getting his starting lineup tactically wrong, Juventus manager Max Allegri made a pair of key changes with substitutions at the hour mark to add much-needed width to his side, something that had been Spurs’ weakness earlier in the tie but had gone unpunished in this match. That weakness was put into the spotlight in just minutes after those changes, with Gonzalo Higuain scoring in the 64th minute and Paulo Dybala finding the back of the net in the 67th, with both goals made possible thanks to top-notch wide play that left Spurs’ defense in shambles.

That pair of goals completely turned the tie around, putting Juventus ahead 4-3 on aggregate and wiping the away goals tiebreaker off the board. Suddenly, Tottenham went from comfortably in charge to having to desperately chase a goal, and Juventus went into defensive stance to hold them at bay. The momentum started to swing back and forth like a pendulum, but Spurs had the better of the scoring chances — including a shot cleared off the line in the final minute of regulation by Andrea Barzagli, who instantly made up for a match full of struggles against Tottenham’s pace.

In the end, Spurs didn’t have quite enough to fight their way through Juventus’ tough defense. It was a dramatic comeback from the Italians, using smart tactics and their vast experience to upset the odds against a previously-dominant Tottenham side that, up until Higuain’s goal, seemed to be on a dream run in the Champions League. Juventus fans will point to their team’s grinta — their toughness — as the reason they won, but no matter what the reason, Juventus are on to the quarterfinals while Spurs have a lot of answers to find after a bitterly disappointing result.

Tottenham Hotspur: Hugo Lloris; Kieran Trippier, Davinson Sanchez, Jan Vertonghen, Ben Davies; Mousa Dembele, Eric Dier (Erik Lamela 74’); Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli (Fernando Llorente 86’), Son Heung-Min; Harry Kane

Goals: Son (39’)

Juventus: Gianluigi Buffon; Andrea Barzagli, Mehdi Benatia (Stephan Lichsteiner 61’), Giorgio Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Sami Khedira, Miralem Pjanic, Blaise Matuidi (Kwadwo Asamoah 60’); Douglas Costa, Gonzalo Higuain (Stefano Sturaro 83’), Paulo Dybala

Goals: Higuain (64’), Dybala (67’)

It was evident from the moment the lineups were announced that Juventus were going to have a major issue down the right-hand side of their defense, because starting Andrea Barzagli at right back in a lineup designed for one-on-one defending was never a good idea. That meant he would be isolated against Son Heung-Min, which is such an obvious mismatch it’s painful to even see on the lineup card. And it played out exactly as you would expect, with Son carving him up time and again, standing as Tottenham’s most dangerous player even well before he scored the match’s opening goal, which essentially serves as the deciding goal of the tie.

Sure, Mattia de Sciglio is hurt, and while Stephan Lichtsteiner hasn’t been in great form, he would have been a much better option on the right than the statue-footed Barzagli, who was never blessed with an abundance of pace even long before age cost him a few steps of it. Lichtsteiner specializes in a very tactical level of play that would have at least made Son’s life more difficult down the wing, forcing him to take less-ideal choices in his approach rather than having the free reign he did on Wednesday.

Max Allegri is a very good manager, but he got this decision very, very, very wrong.

It took awhile, but a little ways into the second half Allegri identified that Spurs’ fullbacks were having issues against Juventus whenever they kicked play wide. Their opportunities to do so had been limited earlier in the match, but a pair of defensive-on-the-surface substitutions allowed Juventus to change their shape and approach just enough to create more width and more opportunities to strike at that weakens in Tottenham’s defense.

And oh boy did it work grandly.

It took just three minutes after bringing on Kwadwo Asamoah and Stephan Lichtsteiner for Blaise Matuidi and Mehdi Benatia to see results, with Spurs’ back line getting carved up by Douglas Costa and Alex Sandro en route to Gonzalo Higuain’s 64th minute goal, and then Dybala cutting in from the left to score just three minutes after that. Those substitutions completely changed the complexion of the game and the tie, not only taking the lead but wiping out Spurs’ away goals tiebreaker in a matter of moments. After making such a crucial mistake with his lineup, Allegri more than made good on his errors with his mid-game adjustments.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Chiellini was widely regarded as one of the best centerbacks in the world, if not the best. The last couple of years have seen his star fall a bit, but he was still widely though of as elite. After Wednesday, however, it’s pretty clear that those days are behind him.

Harry Kane is an elite striker on the rise, so he was always going to be a tough matchup for Chiellini, but Kane’s style is one that the veteran Italian has typically done very well against. But Kane consistently had Chiellini beaten from the first whistle, skipping past him on the dribble, making Chiellini read runs off the ball wrong, and continually pulling him out of position and left well outside the play with his hold-up play and distribution. Yes, he was much better in the second half, coming up strongly in two key moments after Juventus took the lead, but he still wasn’t at the same level of the Chiellini of old.

It’s a shame to see a great player fall, but this isn’t just an isolated incident for Chiellini. This kind of thing has been happening more and more this season for him, and this was just the most obvious incident of it. His best days are clearly behind him, and that’s a big problem Juventus are going to have to find a solution for this summer.