UEFA Champions League first knockout round First leg
Constant Vanden Stock was the venue for the first leg of the between Anderlecht and Juventus, this being Anderlechts first foray into the knockout there really was no pressure on the club to progress any further with the team getting this far being an achievement in itself.
All the pressure was on Italian champions Juventus because fans and media were expecting a cricket score in this surely one sided tie
the first half started quite slowly with both teams struggling to keep the ball due to the heavy downpour before and during the match but Juventus were still having shots at the Anderlecht goal but most didnt even trouble the goalkeeper because shots were restricted to long range. as the half went on though Juventus started to shift through the gears and got their fast passing game going eventually taking the lead when Stephen Liechtsteiner whipped in a hard low cross which N'Sakala didnt read properly putting the ball past his own goalkeeper. Anderlecht then decided to start playing some football and came close just minutes later when talented youth product Nabil Jaadi skimmed the post with a close range header, that proved to be the last piece of action of the first half and the teams went into halftime Juventus leading 1-0
Anderlecht started the second half like a team with something to prove and went close to equalising when Aleksander Mitrovic rattled the crossbar with a fierce effort leaving Marco Storari flapping at air, as we reached the 70th minute Anderlecht had 66% possession and really looked like scoring, 6 minutes later the equaliser would come as Aaron Leya Isaka played a neat one-two with Dennis praet leaving Isaka acres of space in the box and he made no mistake sliding the ball under Storari and into the net, Isaka showing composure beyond his years. the crowd erupted as Anderlecht pushed for a second but it was not to come and the match finished at 1-1.
along with our stunning 1-1 draw with Juventus here are the other results from the knockout round, Real Madrid, Arsenal and Bayern Munich look well on there way to the next round with quite positive results
