arda turan edges atlético past juventus published: wednesday 1 october 2014, 22.47cet club atlético de madrid 1-0 juventus arda turan's 75th-minute goal proved enough to secure a victory that revived atlético's challenge and left all four group a teams with three points. by joseph walker from estadio vicente calderón
• arda turan's second-half volley (75) settles a tight encounter • atlético have now lost just one of their last 20 european home games • defeat is juve's first of the season, and first goal conceded • all four group a teams now have three points • next games: atlético v malmö, olympiacos v juventus (22 october)
a solitary goal from arda turan helped club atlético de madrid bounce back from their matchday one loss and take three points against juventus.
this was the first time that the spanish and ıtalian champions had met in a competitive fixture, but neither team was able to gain the upper hand in a quiet first half. juventus dominated possession in the early exchanges, winning their physical battles and keeping the ball well without ever really troubling the atlético defence.
last season's runners-up began to come more into the game after 15 minutes had been played, and it was atlético who created the better opportunities in an opening 45 minutes in which defences were largely on top.
after the rojiblancos' captain for the night raúl garcía had flashed a header wide, striker mario mandžukić forced gianluigi buffon into his only save of note in the first period after harrying arturo vidal out of possession on the edge of the box.
defender diego godín headed over the bar when well positioned from a koke free-kick, while paul pogba sent a curling effort wide of miguel ángel moyà's left-hand post.
the home side came out full of attacking intent at the beginning of the second half, a change in mindset illustrated by diego simeone's decision to introduce antoine griezmann for uefa champions league debutant saúl ñíguez after 53 minutes.
a succession of corners followed, and they almost paid dividends as atlético pushed on, yet a juventus side that was still to concede this season – the ıtalian champions having won their first six games in all competitions – continued to hold firm. with the volume increasing inside the vicente calderón, juventus slowed the pace of the game as they looked to frustrate the home crowd and proceedings once again became fractured.
the visitors might have snatched the lead, only tiago's last-ditch block denying carlos tévez, and that was to prove pivotal moments later. arda turan met juanfran's cross at the back post to poke the ball past buffon and inflict juve's first defeat of the season, leaving group a too tight to call after two rounds of matches.
