Juventus Stun PSG 3-1 in Women’s Champions League
Goals from ex-PSG striker Amalie Vangsgaard, Sofia Cantore and Hanna Bennison were enough to seal a famous victory for the Bianconere at the Pozzo-La Marmora stadium in Biella.
When the draw was made, it looked like Juventus’ tradition of horrendous early exits against super clubs would continued, having lost at this stage to Barcelona in 2019, Lyon in 2020 and Eintracht Frankfurt last season.
For PSG, progression to the group stages is expected as the bare minimum, with the club desperate to finally break Lyon’s dominance of French and European football, having lost two UEFA Women’s Champions League finals in 2015 and 2017.
Juventus were not here to make up the numbers though, playing aggressively from kick off. Juve almost took an instant lead when Amalie Vangsgaard fed through Valentina Bergamaschi, who was unable to score.
Seven minutes in, Juventus were ahead already after Sofia Cantore raced down the right wing and passed the ball into the box for Vangsgaard, who finished with clinical precision against her former club.
PSG were jolted awake by the goal, and four minutes later, they were level. Thiniba Samoura’s sumptuous long range bamboozled Juventus goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, making it 1-1. PSG were not going down without a fight.
On 34 minutes, Sofia Cantore put Juventus ahead with a piece of individual brilliance. Chasing a ball on the far left of the park, Cantore then proceeded to nutmeg her marker and race into the box. Cantore then cut back out onto her right foot and curled the ball into the top far corner for a sumptuous goal. 2-1 at the break.
When the two teams emerged from the tunnel for the second half, PSG ramped up the intensity, hell bent on getting themselves back into the game.
Sofia Cantore, however, had other ideas. She continued to terrorise out wide, and on 62 minutes, she carved out an opening on the right hand side and crossed a ball into the lap of Hanna Bennison. Bennison hit a cool and calculated strike into the bottom corner, killing the game.
PSG could not recover from that third gut punch, as they huffed and puffed, trying to reduce the aggregate deficit. Juventus’ defence were on hand to mop up any possible danger and ride out the game though, as it ended 3-1..
After the game, opening goalscorer Amalie Vangsgaard spoke at a press conference, stating: “It was important for us to start like this, and for me it was a very important goal to start the Women's Champions League with a goal, bringing home the victory. Personally I feel good. At PSG I played a lot as an outsider and now I have the opportunity to play as a striker at and prove that I can score.
“The ex's goal? It's special to score against your old team, but now I'm a player and I want the best for this club. What race will be on the return? PSG is a good team and we have to respect them. We will push as hard as possible even in the return and we will try to win that game as well”
Coach Massimiliano Canzi gave his thoughts at the presser too; "This is undoubtedly one of the most exciting evenings of my career, as I did not have the luck or skill to play in the Champions League. I am sure it would be for any coach. You work hard to experience evenings like this. We did really well, and I have to thank everybody who helped me working on preparing for this game, because we have everything we need to perform at our best.
"This is the right path and we want to continue along it. I can’t say much more now, because the season is very long and we are only at the beginning. For this particular match, the management of certain moments was key. Their game management was excellent.”
Juventus will hope the 3-1 aggregate lead will give them enough to hold on to and make it through the group stages next Thursday (26th September) when they travel to Campus PSG for the return leg. Before that, the ladies will face Lazio away from home in domestic action on Saturday.