These are the ones that leave you having completely mixed feelings.
And ones that you want to take about 10 days before trying to put something into words.
Juventus battled like all hell on Wednesday night. They did that with 11 players on the field, and they most certainly did that after they went down a man for yet another undeserved sending off by a referee who became the latest in an ever-growing list of fellas who make questionable decisions that lead to unfortunate results.
This was the approach
and the mindset that you wanted to see from a team that needed to come out on the front foot — and then some — if they wanted to have any chance of making things interesting.
They certainly made things interesting.
But you can only take that so far. Why? Because Juventus needed to pull off the miracle because of what happened last week. Juventus put themselves in this situation. Their performance in Istanbul — more specifically the second half — was why they found themselves having to score at least four and hold Galatasaray off the scoreboard if they wanted any chance of advancing.
The end result was a Juve team that forced extra time and won 3-2 on the night. But, this was unfortunately not a one-off and what happened in Turkiye last week can’t be suddenly wiped from our memory. Therefore, it was a 7-5 aggregate loss — thanks in large part to what happened in the first leg.
And that is why Juve are ultimately out of the Champions League. They are not out of the Champions League because of their collective effort on Wednesday night. They are out of the Champions League because they dug themselves a near-impossible hole to get out of in the return leg. They put themselves up against the wall by much of their own doing. They allowed four unanswered goals in the second half of the first leg. No matter how you play in the second leg, it is that
The funny thing is, they could have won this in regular time and not even had to worry about extra time — which, considering the circumstances before coming into the game and then going down to 10 men less than four minutes into the second half, seems just completely wild to think about. They could have taken the lead in extra time, too, before Galatasaray took advantage of a fully gassed opponent and struck for two to get back in front. If Khephren Thuram decides to go for placement rather than putting way too much sauce into his shot and trying to chip it over the keeper, Juve get a fourth. If Edon Zhegrova somehow puts his left-footed effort on frame rather than missing the target completely, Juventus get a fourth.
For all of the things that Luciano Spalletti’s squad did right on Wednesday night — and there were a lot of them to try and overcome the ills of what happened last week — the shortcomings of this squad were on display. Juventus finished with a whopping xG total of 5.06, according to SofaScore. They were pushing a total of over 4 well before second-half stoppage time arrived. They had so many close calls outside the closest of close calls that you might have lost track of them. It was a game in which Juve needed a striker to just bury one of those chances — and yet, they couldn’t.
Plus, you know, the hill of trying to flip a 5-2 aggregate scoreline is just steep as hell to begin with.
They had us believing, though. They really did. You see Weston McKennie score his latest goal in the Champions League and you’re starting to believe. Our beloved Alessandro Del Piero was believing when the CBS Sports crew were talking to him right before extra time got underway. So if Del Piero is believing, then it’s not to start doing the same yourself. They had Galatasaray all out of sorts for much of Wednesday night’s second leg — and that is something that might not have seemed possible based on what we saw eight days earlier.
Ultimately, though, Juventus are out of the Champions League at the same stage that they were out of it last season. Maybe Galatasaray are better than PSV Eindhoven, maybe the Dutch side are better. At this point, I really have no idea. But I do know that Juve are out of Europe before the UCL Round of 16 draw for the second straight season.
And for a club like Juventus, no matter what its current state may be, that is not something to be happy about.
RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS
- Oh a Juventus player got sent off for something that didn’t even deserve it? Gee, where have I heard that before …
- Like, what is Lloyd Kelly supposed to do? He is literally just landing after going up for a header. Was it going to be a graceful landing? Probably not, but that had nothing to do with the fact that there was absolutely no intention of stomping on somebody’s Achilles heel as he came down to the ground. Unless Kelly is somehow able to suddenly hover, it’s just
- I guess “Federico La Penna” translated into Portuguese is “João Pedro Pinheiro.” Only feels appropriate.
- Writing this less than 20 minutes in and Weston McKennie’s kit is an absolute mess. I love him.
- Weston McKennie is the best left back currently employed by Juventus Football Club.
- So that’s what it’s like to have a left back who is defensively sound, can run his tail off and contributions to the attack all in the same game, huh? This is a crazy thought and something that I haven’t thought since the wonderful years of prime Alex Sandro. Because that’s what McKennie looked like.
- Oh, and he scored yet another Champions League goal, too? Give that man his contract extension tomorrow … if he is able to get out of bed at all. Or just tell him to sleep the next 20 hours or so. I’m sure he needs it.
- Manuel Locatelli, that was one hell of an overall game. That man gave absolutely everything.
- Plus, that was a stone-cold penalty from a guy who still hasn’t taken many penalties in his career.
- I still don’t know what Thuram was thinking with that chip. I might not ever know.
- I still don’t know what Zhegrova was thinking during that miss. Right kind of idea, but just terrible execution.
- Also, related: Maybe Weston should have just shot the ball himself. Take advantage of the heater you’re on in the Champions League (and just in general) and be a little selfish. It’s understandable, The shooting lane was there for him, but he just decided to pass. Damn, man.
- It’s really too bad that Thuram just didn’t do the logical thing with his shot because he was playing so well. That was most definitely a Good KT kind of night — and he showed it early.
- Kenan Yildiz was subbed off when he was on complete empty. I have no problem with it. He was just completely spent. And that comes all of few days after much of Como’s roster hacked him to bits every chance they got.
- Bravo to Federico Gatti because at one point late in the game you were basically the only true defender on the field and you still gave your team a fighting chance. That is the Gatti that I remember.
- Prayer circle that Pierre Kalulu only had to come off the field because of cramps and nothing more. He is somebody Spalletti cannot afford to lose going into March.
- So many chances.
- So many missed chances.
- Why do I feel like it’s just one vicious circle when it comes to those last two sentences? Maybe because it is.
- And with all those missed chances, they still almost did the damn thing. That’s the crazy part.
- Galatasaray’s bench is better than Juventus’ — and it feels like it’s not really close.
- Not a great showing for Vasilije Adžić. Maybe a loan spell somewhere in Serie A for the second half of the 2025-26 season would have been the right call. Because potentially relying on him in big season-defining moments in 2026 just doesn’t feel like the right kind of choice.
- Teun Koopmeiners in two legs against Galatasaray: two goals and an assist. Maybe in the middle field of the 4-3-3 is where he’s meant to be. You know, like all along.
- I’m tired, boss. Not as tired as a lot of the guys who wore black and white on this night. But I’m tired nonetheless.
