Melbourne Victory and Juventus played out a lacklustre 1-1 draw at the MCG in front of 23,174 in the opening encounter of the International Champions Cup.
Spaniard Carlos Blanco’s fine effort from just past the half way line was later cancelled out by Victory youngster Jai Ingham’s driving finish past Juve reserve goalkeeper Emil Audero.
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Player Ratings: Melbourne Victory 1(4) Juventus 1(3)
Talking Points: Melbourne Victory 1(4) Juventus 1(3)
How the fans reacted to a poor turnout between Victory and Juventus
The Victory went on to win the clash 4-3 in a penalty shootout with Juventus attacker Stefano Padovan missing the fifth and decisive penalty for the away side.
Melbourne Victory (4-3-3)
Lawrence Thomas 6.5
Made a decent claim to become Victory’s number one this season. However, will be disappointed to be beaten from half way.
Stefan Nigro 6
Worked hard down the right hand side. Lively.
James Donachie 6.5
Dealt with Cerri’s height perfectly. Didn’t give the big man much of an opportunity. Could turn out to be a very good signing for the Victory.
Nicholas Ansell 5.5
Had some difficulty keeping up with Juve’s attackers.
Daniel Georgievski 5.5
Quite evening for the Macedonian international.
Rashid Mahazi 5.5
Conservative performance in midfield from the youngster. Didn’t do enough with his possession.
Leigh Broxham 6
Decent performance from the Victory captain as his side had the better of the possession in the first half.
Oliver Bozanic 6
Driving force in Victory’s midfield. Looked comfortable against quality opposition.
Mitch Austin 8
Very, very good display. Created plenty of chances for his new side. Given man of the match honours.
Besart Berisha 6.5
Forced a terrific save out of Brazilian goalkeeper Neto with his header from close range.
Fahid Ben Khalfallah 6.5
Worked hard from a defensive point of view, looked to run at the Juventus rear guard at every opportunity.
Substitutes
Jason Geria 5.5
Not enough attacking from Geria however was solid defensively.
Jai Ingham 7
Finished off a lovely team effort with a fantastic low finish to equalise for the home side.
Sebastian Pasquali 6.5
Great display from someone who we can expect to feature in Victory’s first team this season. Made it look easy at times.
Alan Baro 6
Someone the Victory will heavily depend on this season. Read the play well and looked composed in possession.
Carl Valeri 5
Anonymous at times. Not one of his better performances in a Victory jersey.
Juventus (3-5-2)
Neto 7
A safe pair of hands throughout the first half, always alert. Made a brilliant save to keep Berisha’s header from ending up in the back of the net.
Daniele Rugani 7.5
Nearly got himself on the scoresheet with a low shot in the first half which hit the bar. Composed performance in defence.
Luca Marrone 6.5
May not find himself at Juventus this season however, someone who can add plenty of value to the side with his distribution and strength in defence.
Yoan Severin 6
Worked well with Marrone and Rugani in defence.
Pol Lirola 7
The Juve youngster is set to join Europa League hopefuls Sassuolo in the coming days and made a good account of himself tonight. One of Juve’s best.
Mario Lemina 6.5
Good performance from the Gabon midfielder. A calming influence.
Hernanes 4.5
Disappointing. Yet another lacklustre performance in a Juventus shirt.
Kwadwo Asamoah 6.5
Didn’t feature very often last season, nice to see the Ghanaian back playing. Solid outing, some neat footwork.
Alex Sandro 7
Industrious as always, Alex Sandro was Juventus’ biggest threat throughout the first half.
Paulo Dybala 6
Narrowly missed with a free-kick opportunity in the first half. Didn’t get as many looks on goal as he’d have liked.
Alberto Cerri 4
Didn’t provide enough of a spark for the Italian champions going forward.
Substitutes
Emil Audero 5.5
Not much he could do with Ingham’s equaliser.
Carlos Blanco 7
Lovely strike from just past the halfway line to put his side ahead. Incredible effort from the ex-Barcelona youth.
Lorenzo Coccolo 5.5
Outmuscled at times, will need to do better if he’s to retain a spot within Juventus’ first team set up.
Giulio Parodi 5
Had some difficulty finding his feet in what was a dull encounter.
Stefano Padovan 6.5
An expected upgrade on Alberto Cerri.
Roman Macek 6
Decent outing. Missed his penalty after the two sides played out a draw.
Grigoris Kastanos
Started the second half well however was phased out as Victory enjoyed more of possession as the game wore on.
Mattia Vitale 5.5
A youngster with a lot of quality, however, like Kastanos the match’s tempo didn’t favour him.
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