Juventus fight back to deny holders Chelsea
Reuters - Wednesday 19 September 2012, 21:44
Chelsea began the defence of their Champions League title with a
frustrating 2-2 draw with Juventus after Oscar's quickfire double for
the hosts was overshadowed by a superb fightback from the Italian
champions on Wednesday.
Brazilian
midfielder Oscar, making his first start, showed just why Chelsea
splashed out 25 million pounds to sign him from Internacional when he
scored twice in three first-half minutes at Stamford Bridge.
He
was a touch fortunate in the 31st minute when his deflected shot beat
Gianluigi Buffon but his second two minutes later was a sensational
strike and a contender already for the competition's goal of the season.
Turning
sharply, Oscar, 21, curled an unstoppable effort with his right foot
into the top corner. That was as good as it got for the hosts.
After
winning all six of their home Champions League games last season they
looked set for another routine home win, but Juventus, who were always a
threat, halved the deficit before the break when Arturo Vidal scored
with a low drive.
Juve then
silenced the home crowd 10 minutes from time when substitute Fabio
Quagliarella beat the offside trap to make it 2-2 after John Obi Mikel
lost possession trying to play the ball wide to Eden Hazard.
Claudio Marchisio stole in, and set up Quaglierella who kept his composure to turn and slot the equaliser past Petr Cech.
Chelsea
coach Roberto Di Matteo rued a missed opportunity to make a winning
start in a group also containing Shakhtar Donetsk and Nordsjaelland.
"We
started well and it was great goal for Oscar. It was right to start him
tonight, he played well tactically and the second goal was a wonderful
goal," he said.
"But we feel
disappointed and a little bit deflated. We were in a fantastic position
to win the game and came away with only a draw. We should have closed
the game and got the win.
"But Juventus are a first class side, they are very difficult to beat and they played very well tonight too."
Members
of the British Armed Forces paraded the European Cup around the ground
before Chelsea kicked off their bid to become the first club since AC
Milan in 1989 and 1990 to win it in successive seasons.
Chelsea
were up against a Juve side unbeaten in Serie A since the season before
last but are playing without banned coach Antonio Conte in the dugout.
Conte,
whose 10-month Italian ban for not reporting match-fixing now also
includes Champions League matches, watched the match from the stands and
saw his team, under his assistant Massimo Carrera, play some typically
disciplined football to keep Chelsea pegged back for large spells of the
game.
Carrera told
reporters: "We showed some real fighting character tonight which is what
this club is all about. It was a tough match, but we battled for the
point and deserved it."
Quaglirella
went close to winning it for Juve in the closing minute with a long
range shot that clipped the Chelsea bar but in the end, a draw was a
fair result for both sides.
While
Oscar, who limped off after 75 minutes after a strong tackle from
Leonardo Bonucci, caught the eye for the home side, Juve looked sharp
coming forward too.
Mirko
Vucinic was always a threat, though he should have done better with a
clear shot at goal that he powered wide just before Chelsea opened the
scoring.
Vidal and Marchisio
also threatened in the second half, but Chelsea defended superbly -
until the 80th minute - with David Luiz, Ashley Cole and John Terry all
making important blocks and tackles.
Chelsea
now know, if they did not before, just how hard it will be to retain
their title at Wembley next May.