26.10.2019 » Lecce 1-1 Juventus. Ronaldo rests and Juve slips

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Juventus have dropped points in the Serie A for the second time this season, as they visited Lecce today and couldn't go beyond a 1-1 draw. Maurizzio Sarri decided to rest his star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Italian champions have certainly missed him on the pitch...

It was not supposed to be a very difficult obstacle, but it turned out that the visit to Lecce scheduled for this Saturday afternoon surprised the Italian champions and forced them to drop 2 valuable points in the Serie A title race. Sarri had decided to rest Cristiano Ronaldo from this game as he surely didn't expect his men to face so many troubles as they did and the result was a disappointing 1-1 draw against a side that was yet to conquer a point when playing at home. Still, the Bianconeri scored the opener shortly after the break when Paulo Dybala converted a penalty-kick, but the hosts didn't give up fighting and equalized nearly 5 minutes after, by also converting a controversial penalty-kick. Juventus now returns to action next Wednesday, in a home game against Genoa.

Lecce 1-1 Juventus - Goals and highlights:

No Ronaldo, no party!

On paper, today's Serie A game was probably one of those where Juventus had less chances to drop points. Their opponents on the day struggled all season so far and in particular when playing at the Via del Mare, in Lecce. They had only tasted the bitter flavor of defeat since the beginning of the season and with Juventus coming to town, very few people believed the outcome could be any different. With that in mind, Sarri decided this was the right time to give one of his most important players some rest and left Cristiano Ronaldo out of the squad for today's clash...

The Italian champions lineup counted with Szczesny in goal and defensive back-four with Alex Sandro on the left, Danilo on the right, and Bonucci together with De Ligt in the centre. In midfield, there were a few changes too as Sarri played Emre Can next to Pjanic and Bentancur, giving Bernardeschi the attacking support role. Upfront and without Cristiano Ronaldo, the Vecchia Signora relied on Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuaín.

The beginning of the game was somewhat electrifying. Unlike their previous game in midweek against Lokomotiv Moscow, Juventus created several good chances to score, but just couldn't conver any of them. Lecce on the other hand, fought well and still had a few incursions into Juventus' box, but as long as the result was a draw, they simply didn't risk that much and played tight at the back.

One penalty to each side

The half-time eventually arrived and the deadlock was yet to be broken. Juventus had 15 shots in the first 45 minutes, but only got one on target. Lecce had 7, but 2 of those had to be stopped by Szczesny. Nevertheless, the Bianconeri were obviously the ones who were more upset with the score recorded at the time and they made sure to make that obvious shortly after the break.

It didn't take more than 5 minutes for Juventus to earn the first penalty-kick of the day, when a loose ball near one of the edges of Lecce's box had Petriccione and Pjanic rushing for the ball, with the Italian midfielder eventually opting for a sliding tackle to block the Bosnian's shot. The referee considered the tackle was dangerous and illegal and with the help of the VAR, he called it a penalty. With Ronaldo most likely watching the game at home on TV, Paulo Dybala didn't tremble and gave his side the first lead.

The hosts reacted extremely well though and Juventus didn't get to enjoy their 1-goal lead for too long. Roughly 5 minutes after Dybala's goal, Lecce forced De Ligt to handball inside the box and the referee didn't hesitate in pointing to the spot for a second time in this game. The team's captain, Marco Mancosu, showed courage and competence when taking the penalty and easily beat Szczesny to make it 1-1. With more than 30 minutes left on the clock, the Italian champions had a lot more ball in the minutes ahead but failed to score the winning goal...

Juventus line-up vs Lecce:

Goalkeeper: Szczesny
Defenders: Alex Sandro, De Ligt, Bonucci, Danilo
Midfielders: Can, Pjanic, Bentancur
Attackers: Bernardeschi, Higuaín, Dybala.

Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Juventus in the Serie A is on October 30, against Genoa. You can watch Juventus vs Genoa, PSG vs Marseille, Liverpool vs Tottenham, Norwich City vs Manchester United, Arsenal vs Crystal Palace, and Newcastle vs Wolverhampton, all matches provided from our live sports game pages.

Juventus next game:
Juventus vs Genoa kick-off time (30-10-2019):

Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 03:00
Jakarta (Indonesia) | UTC/GMT+7: 02:00
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 00:30
Italy (Turin) | UTC/GMT+2: 21:00
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+2: 21:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+1: 20:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 16:00
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 15:00
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 12:00

Sources: ronaldo7.net / juventus.com / washingtonpost.com / nytimes.com

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