Juventus vs Tottenham

Champions League is BACK!! Of course being an Arsenal fan it doesn't hold the same significance now we're in the Europa, but I see it as making the Europa League more interesting, well I try to anyway. 

With an incredible, intimidating atmosphere brewing at the Allianz Stadium, as you'd expect from Italians, you could tell from the get go how much this meant for Juventus and their fans. For Spurs however, they came into this tie as the underdogs with Juventus only conceding one goal in their last 16, it was set to be one of their toughest European ties yet. Spurs would have to come out the blocks quickly and really assert themselves on proceedings, otherwise it could be a very long evening.

And Tottenham couldn't have got off to a worse start as with only one minute on the clock. Pjanic gets a freekick around 35 yards out and with a sudden glimpse of Higuain's eyes, plays a delicate ball over the Spurs defence to the Argentinian who first time, over the shoulder, volleys the ball out an outstretched Hugo Lloris. Despite Lloris' best efforts, including getting a touch to the ball, Higuain's strike from the right hand side of the box into the far corner gave the Frenchman little chance.

I said Tottenham couldn't have got off to a worse start, turns out I was wrong. A switch of play across the Tottenham penalty area encourages a 50/50 between Bernadeshi and Davies, which Bernardeshi wins, also bringing a Davies tackle, of course leading to a penalty. Higuain steps up and despite another Lloris fingertip, tucks it into the same left hand corner as he did before. 2-0 Juventus within 10 minutes and Tottenham will have to wake up, urgently.

And wake up they do. After a period of possession, they finally make it count as a delightfully weighted Eriksen cross finds the head of Harry Kane, however the Englishman heads it at Buffon. A huge opportunity for Kane but lots of credit for Buffon who read the situation superbly tomovw before Kane even got the header off.

The game had an incredible tempo and that continued, just like the Tottenham possession, and when a stunning Dembele ball found Dele on the edge of the box, De Sciglio came flying in and timed the tackle to perfection. However the action wasn't over as Juve counter with Higuain just beating Davies to the ball, playing it to Costa on his left, Costa cutting it back excellently to Higuain who fakes inside past a sliding Vertonghen, only for him to smash it just wide with his left. Excellent pace to the game and it's been a great game for the neutral.

The excellent pace continued as after an excellent midfield battle, the ball fell to Alli, who delays the pass to perfection to an inrushing Kane who rounds Buffon and scores. As soon as Kane gets one on one you almost know he'll score and with just over half an hour gone, Spurs have responded superbly and are certainly looking most likely to get a second.

However after all the hard Spurs work, they almost throw it away as Costa breezes past Sanchez proceeding to battle with Aurier down the left wing, however the Ivorian, after being beaten, stupidly brings him down. Another penalty to Juventus and another opportunity for Higuain to convert. However unnaturally, for both Lloris and Higuain, the Argentine misses with Hugo Lloris saving a penalty which has been a rarety for the Frenchman as he tips it onto the bar. Massive opportunity for Higuain to grab a first half hattrick, but more importantly keeping Tottenham in the contest.

And that was the final kick of the half as the whistle blows for half-time with Juventus leading by two goals to one. After an incredibly dominant opening from Juventus, Spurs have done excellently to respond against all the odds and get a deserved goal that really puts them back into the game. Could Spurs get a draw or even a win to bring back to Wembley?

Well after a period of possession for Spurs with little penetration, the ball fell at the feet of Higuain who's excellent hold up play finds Bernadeshi in acres of space on the left, he cuts inside past Davies, hits it towards the far post and Lloris saves excellently at full stretch to parry wide. Spurs having lots of possession at the start of the second half, but Juventus are very dangerous on the break.

As the match goes on, having to deal with some awful ear piercing whistle chantsA from the home faithful, a lovely, deft Dele Alli touch draws a foul from Chiellini. A central free kick around 20 yards from goal, is then hit low by the Danish superstar Cristian Eriksen, past Buffon and nestles in the back of the net. Very clever from Eriksen who's been superb throughout hitting it to the Italian's side, but poor from Buffon who really should have saved it. 20 minutes to go, could Tottenham snatch a shock win being the first English side to do it since Manchester United in 2002?

As time went on, the match got duller and duller as you could see both teams were running out of steam, especially Spurs. While the away side especially showed signs of exhaustion, credit where it's due to Juventus who seemed to solidify as a defensive unit towards the latter stages as apart from a few Juventus corners, little more notable was to happen and while Spurs weren't able to nick a win, this is an excellent result, especially after how they started and it gives them all the possibility to knock out Juventus at Wembley in a few weeks time.

MOTM: Cristian Eriksen

For me, it was between Dembele and Eriksen for MOTM with both absolutely controlling the midfield for the majority of the game, especially being away at Juventus, that's no easy feight. Eriksen however tipped it for me with his freekick. The Danish hero was a thorn in one of the most stubborn defenses in Europe, dropping deep to support the build up play, or getting in between the midfield and defensive lines for when they wanted more directness. The normally reliable Juventus defence couldn't deal with Eriksen and his teammates and I don't think they'll be looking forward to the away leg.