Juventus 1-2 Chelsea FCW, Women’s Champions League: Post-match reaction

Any notion that Juventus could be taken lightly were put to rest rather quickly, as former Arsenal coach Joe Montemurro’s side were organized and disciplined at the back, solid in midfield, and quick on the counter from the very first minute to the very last. Only Carter’s pace prevented the home side from scoring a couple easy goals on the counter in fact.

But there was little she could do to stop Juve’s other main avenue of attack, crosses from either side, deep toward the far post — one of which, just before half-time, saw Bonansea beat Reiten to the ball and produce a finish just inside the post.

That goal brought Juve level, after Erin Cuthbert had opened the scoring with a fantastic individual effort just past the half-hour mark, cutting inside from the right and finishing with her left into the bottom corner.

After a slow start to the second half, the game burst into life with chances at either end before Emma Hayes changed the system and Chelsea immediately reaped the reward with a Pernille Harder goal.

But there were still 20 minutes to go at that point, which promised plenty more action and drama. Fortunately, Chelsea were able to hang on to the result and all three points, and even hit the woodwork at the other end.

Carefree!

• Chelsea in the 3-4-3 as expected, with almost the exact same starting lineup as against Wolfsburg last week: Kirby instead of England the one change up top.
• Switch to a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 for the final 25 minutes with Fleming coming on. Carter at right back and Reiten (!) at left. Reiten spared further troubles with Andersson coming on (for Kirby) for the final 7+ minutes.
• Wolfsburg easily beat Servette, 5-0, in the other game, to go top of the group.
• Next up: Manchester City in the FA Cup in two weeks
• KTBFFH