Juventus 3 - Porto 1
Tuesday 23rd October 2001
Juventus sealed their place in the second phase of the Champions' League and top spot in Group E by beating Porto in the Stadio Delle Alpi on Tuesday.
Juventus received an early shock when Clayton Ferreira da Cruz caught out goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon with a smart free kick after just 13 minutes.
The former Parma no. 1 was expecting a cross as Clayton delivered the ball in from the right flank, and he was glued to the spot as it arrowed its way into the back of the Juventus net.
Juventus, however, soon hit back thanks to a free kick of their own from Alessandro Del Piero in the 32nd minute.
The Italian playmaker, who had to wear a bandage on his fractured arm, curled his shot into the top corner from the edge of the area with Sergei Ovchinnikov rooted to the spot.
The delightful strike brought the home crowd to life, and they almost had another goal to cheer moments after the restart when Gianluca Zambrotta saw his low drive cannon back of the Porto upright.
Two minutes after the interval the Turin side went ahead for the first time when Del Piero's corner was headed home emphatically by Uruguay star Pablo Montero.
Porto came close to equalising in the 50th minute, but Buffon reacted brilliantly to keep out Jesus Pena's point-blank header.
It was Juventus' only genuine scare and, although Del Piero saw his 67th minute strike controversially disallowed for offside, they sealed the win thanks to David Trezeguet's goal after 73 minutes. The France striker deflected home Pavel Nedved's cross.
Juventus: Buffon; Thuram, Tudor, Montero, Paramatti, Zambrotta (Zenoni 72), Tacchinardi, Davids (Birindelli 88), Nedved, Trezeguet, Del Piero (Maresca 75)
Porto: Ovchinnikov, Ibarra (Junior 75), Jorge Andrade, Ricardo Carvalho, Mario Silva, Costinha, Soderstrom, Capucho, Deco (Rafael 67), Clayton (Postiga 61), Pena
Booked: Davids (Juventus); Costinha, Postiga (Porto)
Referee: Frick (Sweden)
