It may have taken five matches, but after an Arturo Vidal hat trick at Juventus Stadium, the two-time defending Serie A champions have their first win of this year’s UEFA Champions League. With penalty kicks on each side of half time followed by a 63rd minute header, the Chilean international helped his team to a 3-1 win over visiting FC Copenhagen, his third, fourth, and fifth goals of the tournament vaulting Juve into second in Group B.
If they can protect that position in their final group stage match on Dec. 10, Juventus will be into the competition’s round of 16 despite sitting last through four rounds. That position meant last year’s quarterfinalists would be unable to advance if they lost to Wednesday to Copenhagen. Instead, in a controlling performance that saw the Old Lady outshoot their guests 20-7, Juventus leapt into second place, Galatasaray’s loss in Spain to a 10-man Real Madrid further helping the Italians’ round of 16 hopes.
Closing their group stage with a trip to Istanbul, Juventus need only a draw at Turk Telekom Arena on Dec. 10 to advance to the knockout round. Copenhagen, however, can not advance after tonight’s loss, their best case scenario being third place and a Europa League spot.
Though the teams shared possession for much of the first half, the bulk of the first period’s action took place in Copenhagen’s half, action that started in earnest with a sixth minute shot from Paul Pogba. From there, the opportunities FCK saw on the ball usually culminated with a speculative play into Juve’s end, plans which usually ended with the bianconeri on the ball. Over the first 45 minutes, Copenhagen never put a shot on Gianluigi Buffon despite holding 48 percent of possession.
Juventus wasn’t not so ineffectual. Stretching the Copenhagen defense by playing flank-to-flank, the hosts eventually broke through when a ball lobbed for Pogba in the left of the penalty area fell on the arm of FCK right back Lars Jacobsen. Referee Jonas Eriksson was given little choice but to point to the spot, where a blast into the left of goal from Vidal beat Johan Wiland for the Chilean’s third goal of the tournament.
Pogba nearly added a second in the 41st minute, his blast from just outside the left post going into the crown. Four minutes later, Juventus was walking into the dressing room up 1-0, a controlling half leaving the team 45 minutes from climbing out of Group B’s cellar.
Eleven minutes into the second half, however, Juventus were back where they started, their inability to defend a long throw leaving it 1-1. After an innocuous start to the half, a throw in deep down Copenhagen’s right presented trouble after a poor clearance from Vidal. When two Juve defenders failed to win an ensuing aerial battle with Ragnar Sigurdsson, Olaf Mellberg was allowed to clean up. His right-footed volley from near the penalty spot beat Buffon to level the score.
That even-footing lasted all of five minutes, with Mellberg doing his best to give the goal back at the other end. His two-armed takedown of Fernando Llorente inside Copenhagen’s penalty area drew another whistle from Eriksson, with Vidal scorching the left-side netting to give Juventus their second converted penalty of the night.
Within two minutes, the hat trick was complete, Vidal pushing his tournament total to five goals after a cross from Pogba found him unmarked attacking the right (far) post. His arcing header into the left of goal gave left Wiland flat-footed, a Copenhagen goalkeeper racing back across goal unable to stop his momentum in time to prevent Juve’s third goal.
Up two, Juventus clicked it into neutral, only giving up one more shot on target after Mellberg’s goal. Finally putting in the type of performance most expected in their first four games, Juve claimed the Group B place they were supposed to occupy all along. Though they’ve won once in five matches, that may be all they need to advance to the round of 16. A draw at Galatasaray in two weeks will clinch second place and put them into the knockout round.
Goals
Juventus: 29' Arturo Vidal (p.k.), 61' Vidal (p.k.), 63' Vidal
Copenhagen: 56' Olof Mellberg
Lineups
Juventus: Gianluigi Buffon; Martín Caceres; Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini; Simone Padoin (69' Claudio Marchisio), Arturo Vidal (83' Angelo Obinze Ogbonna), Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba, Kwadwo Asamoah; Carlos Tévez (81' Mirko Vucinic), Fernando Llorente
Unused substitutes: Marco Storari, Federico Peluso, Fabio Quagliarella, Paolo De Ceglie
Copenhagen: Johan Wiland; Lars Jacobsen, Olof Mellberg, Ragnar Sigurdsson, Pierre Bengtsson; Christian Bolaños (61' Thomas Kristensen), Claudemir, Thomas Delaney (76' Danny Amankwaa); Rurik Gisiason, Nicolai Jørgensen, Youssef Toutouh (81' Marvin Pourie)
Unused subs: Christoffer Remmer, Jakob Busk Jensen, Georg Margreitter, César Santin