Juventus, juventus rimonta il Gala e si illude, poi crolla ai supplementari: Spalletti è fuori dalla Champions
juventus produced a spirited, resilient performance at Allianz Stadium but were eliminated after extra time by Galatasaray, winning the night 3-2 yet losing the tie on the 5-2 first-leg aggregate. The home side, reduced to ten early in the second half by a red card for Kelly described as "rosso esagerato a Kelly, " fought back with a Locatelli penalty, a Gatti header and a McKennie strike before conceding qualification goals in each period of extra time.
Juventus match and collapse
The sequence was emphatic and cruel: juventus overturned the 5-2 deficit on the night to force extra time thanks to Locatelli (su rigore), Gatti and McKennie, but were ultimately eliminated by a goal per extra time from Victor Osimhen and Barış Yılmaz. Ten minutes before Osimhen's decisive strike Zhegrova had a chance with his right foot that, had it gone in, would have completed the turnaround and sent juventus back to the round of 16 after four years of absence, but he wasted it.
Starting choices and goalkeeper debate
Spalletti followed his pre-match indications and left Di Gregorio on the bench after a run of recent, decisive errors — including the goal conceded against Inter, the mistake in the first leg with Galatasaray and an error against Como — opting to start Perin in goal. On the choice to bench Di Gregorio the coach admitted before kickoff: "potrebbe stare fuori anche 2-3 partite. " Perin was the relaunch in goal; Spalletti also chose not to risk Bremer and deployed McKennie as an esterno sinistro basso in place of the suspended Cambiaso and Cabal.
Thuram role and tactical adjustments
Tactically Spalletti asked Thuram to slide to the left with the dual objective of troubling Sallai and Yilmaz, creating numerical superiority and bringing Kenan Yıldız closer to David. The game opened with early chances for Gatti and Teun Koopmeiners, both failing to convert good headed opportunities inside the first ten minutes. From the 22nd minute three long-range attempts by Locatelli, Conceiçao and Yıldız tested Cakir, who was alert or benefited from off-target shots.
Physicality, stoppages and referee calls
Okan Buruk set Galatasaray in a compact 4-4-2, reinforcing the midfield by replacing the fantasista Akgun with the ex Lemina, and his side used ripartenze led by Yilmaz, Lang and Osimhen to keep juventus defenders unsettled. The match was repeatedly broken by what the coverage described as an antisporting attitude: at every contact Galatasaray players remained on the ground for several tens of seconds, with referee Pinheiro repeatedly stopping play and drawing the visible ire of Spalletti in the stands. One notable build-up to juventus' sole regular-time goal began with a Sanchez turnover under pressure from Koopmeiners on the left; Koopmeiners crossed, David laid the ball off and Thuram was brought down in the area — an action that led to the Locatelli penalty that opened the scoring.
Red card, late chances and extra time
Kelly was sent off at the start of the second half, leaving juventus with ten men, yet the team still found the equaliser and then a third goal: Gatti scored to make it 2-1 on the night and McKennie added the third. Into extra time the visitors found the goals they needed: an excellent masterstroke of movement by the attacker ex-Napoli, who received in the area and did not fail in front of Perin, brought Juventus to the brink, and then Osimhen scored what was noted as his third career goal against juventus across all competitions — after his Napoli double on 13 January 2023 — taking his tally in this Champions League edition to seven. Barış Yılmaz added his first goal of this UCL edition. At 109' Spalletti made his last changes, bringing on Openda and Kostic for Kalulu and Locatelli; at 110' Zhegrova's powerful attempt was tipped away by Cakir; at 114' Boga's left-side run ended in a powerful but high right-footed effort. Torreira also tested Perin from 25 metres at 99' with a central shot that Perin parried.
Wider Italian picture and ranking
Beyond this tie, the Champions playoff night left Atalanta as the only Italian team qualified to the round of 16 after their comeback against Borussia Dortmund, while juventus and Inter both exited — Inter against Bodo/Glimt and juventus in extra time to Galatasaray. With the playoffs concluded the full knockout bracket will be set by the draw on 27 February. The coverage noted national ranking movements: Italy is now fourth and the gap on the German second place narrowed from -1. 357 to 571 points.
The Allianz hosted 41mila fans who responded to the coach's call, gathering under the curva and chanting "Vogliamo questa vittoria" and "Undici leoni" to push the team from the warm-up onwards. Spalletti had urged the need to temper passion in the stadium while harnessing it on the pitch, stressing adaptation and resilience in his pre-match remarks: he spoke of governing passion and enthusiasm through behaviour, of starting "con forza e ferocia" and of the need to adapt and decide what to do in the course of the match. On Di Gregorio he said clubs must make careful evaluations, involve the player and that it can be right to give him a couple of matches to recover his form, reminding that football places continuous pressures and tests of character. Giorgio Chiellini, speaking before the match, urged balance and energy, describing an "atmosfera elettrica allo stadio" and warning that such an encounter could be "difficile, proibitiva, quasi impossibile, " stressing that a single spark or inertia can change these games and that a performance above the average would be needed to overturn the tie.
In the end juventus showed the spirit that had written some of its best pages, but fell a hair short: eliminated on aggregate despite a 3-2 victory after extra time, the team must now focus on domestic objectives — with the chase for fourth place remaining the primary goal — and on the next decisive match, the direct clash in Rome on Sunday.
