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2-2: Brilliant draw
Espanyol played a good match against Juventus and was near to win
Espanyol finished his preseason friendlies with a brilliant draw against Juventus. The white and blue team was able to put in trouble a very complicated team like the Italian that has some of the best players in Europe. The goals of Leo Baptistao and Gerard Moreno nearly gave the victory to the Catalans in a very complete match.
Espanyol was meeting again Juventus 18 years after a memorable pre-season friendly victory thanks to a goal by Martin Posse. The white and blue won a team that then had players like Zidane, Del Piero, Deschamps, Davids or Peruzzi. Now Buffon, Chiellini, Dani Alves, Higuain or Barzagli they have taken over. Reigning Calcio, the squad led by Massimiliano Alegri, despite having lost referents as Morata and Pogba is one of the largest in Europe. Undoubtedly, for Quique Sanchez Flores’ team it was a challenge category.
Espanyol started defending with a lot of concentration even though the locals played well during the first minutes. The supporters of Juventus were excited to see new signings as Dani Alves or Higuain and hoped to enjoy a good match. The Argentinian striker tried twice with two bad shots and only Pereyra gave some problems to Roberto. Espanyol showed it self as a very serious team in defence and didn’t give any chances to their rival.
In attack, Espanyol had some problems to create opportunities but Leo Baptistao, the top scorer of the team during this pre-season, took advantage of his first good chance to score the first goal of the match. The Brazilian dribbled Barzagli and scored with his left foot.
After the half time, the Italians started with a lot of strength. Roberto had to clear a good shoot of Dybala and the post help the white and blue team after a header of Mandzukic. Therefore, the striker didn’t fail to draw the match after a good pass of Assamoah. Espanyol tried to react with two good attacks, specially interesting was a good counterattack of Leo Baptistado that Piatti couldn’t finish.
Espanyol arrived to the last minutes with options despite finishing with one less player. Gerard was able to score a good shot by Jurado. Caicedo was close to score the third but the goalkeeper avoid the good opportunity. In the next attack of the Italians, Dybala put the second one for the locals.
The match finished with a good result for Espanyol that offered a great performance against one of the best teams in Europe. The next aim of the white and blue team will be the first League match against Sevilla.