Last Update: February 17, 2023, 07:19 IST
Europa League: Juventus vs Nantes (AP)
Juventus were frustrated by Nantes in a 1-1 stalemate in the Europa League play-off tie
Juventus’ disappointing season continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Nantes in the home leg of their Europa League playoff tie on Thursday.
Juventus have won just one of six Champions League group matches and lost in the Europa League playoffs, and their fans are still facing a miserable campaign after being deducted 15 Serie A points for financial irregularities.
The playoff against the 13th-placed team in French Ligue 1 came as welcome relief for the Turin Giants as Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic headed home Federico Chiesa’s header to give the hosts an early lead.
Chiesa was unfortunate not to double his side’s advantage early in the second half, as his powerful effort hit the bottom of the crossbar, bounced over the goal line and came out wide.
Nantes took advantage of that let-off, however, to score a fine equalizer on the hour mark, Ludovic Blass slamming the ball into the net after a swift counter-attack.
The Nantes woodwork crumbled again when Angel Di Maria’s corner escaped everyone and hit the crossbar, but another disappointing evening was saved by a winning Juve.
Record six-time Europa League winners Sevilla beat PSV Eindhoven with a 3–0 win at home, thanks to goals from Youssef N Nesri, Lucas Ocampos and Nemanja Gudelj.
Having endured a difficult season after being knocked out of the Champions League and winning only six matches in all competitions, Sevilla put in an impressive performance in their favorite competition.
In Lisbon, Portuguese champions Sporting struggled to draw 1–1 at home with Midtjylland of Denmark.
Sporting controlled the tempo of the game but were unable to convert their dominance into goals. Pedro Goncalves missed a sitter in the first half and Paulinho had a goal ruled out for offside in the second period.
The Danish side took the lead in the 77th minute when Emem Ashour shot first-time from long range into an empty goal after a poor clearance from veteran Sporting goalkeeper Antonio Aden.
Sporting, however, managed to salvage a draw at full-time thanks to a scrambled close-range effort by Sebastien Coates.
Monaco captain Axel Disassi scored in stoppage-time to earn his side a 3-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg.
The visitors unexpectedly took a ninth-minute lead when Leverkusen keeper Lukas Hradecki lost control of a pass back under pressure from Briel Embolo, stumbled upon the ball and dispatched it in a slapstick move into his own goal.
But the hosts struck twice early in the second half to make a comeback. Moussa Diaby leveled home through the legs of keeper Alexander Neubel before teenager Florian Wirtz scored a superb solo goal.
Monaco, who came into the match on the back of a 3–1 Ligue 1 win over Paris Saint-Germain, equalized in the 74th minute with a missile from Crepin Diatta, before Disassi snatched victory for his team at the death.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)