Club Brugge 1 - 2 Juventus
Nedved 66 (J), Trezeguet 75 (J), Yulu Matondo 84 (B)
Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges
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Juve struggled to victory in Bruges despite laying siege to the Belgian side and seeing Patrick Vieira sent off.
Juventus began their Champions League challenge in Belgium, but were forced to do without a host of top stars. Long-term absentees Gigi Buffon and Alessandro Birindelli were joined on the sidelines by Lilian Thuram, Jonathan Zebina and Gianluca Pessotto, while Alessandro Del Piero recovered from a muscular problem but could only start from the bench.
This forced Fabio Capello into a tactical gamble, fielding midfielder Manuele Blasi in the right-back role instead of expected starter Federico Balzaretti in a totally renovated defence.
Club Brugge won the Belgian title last season and could now count on former Real Madrid and Fiorentina hitman Javier Portillo in their attack.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic had the first real chance after 90 seconds, his angled drive going wide of the far post. The Swede was unlucky to see his move stopped by the referee when he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper, as his challenge on Valgaeren was harshly considered to be a foul.
Brugge could barely leave their own half in the opening minutes, as Pavel Nedved blazed over and on eight minutes the Czech brought a fantastic reaction save out of the goalkeeper by volleying an Ibrahimovic cross. The move continued and moments later David Trezeguet fired straight at the 'keeper after springing the offside trap from eight yards.
Even Gianluca Zambrotta had a go from 20 metres, forcing Stinjen to dive to his right and palm the shot wide with one hand. The Brugge shot-stopper was under siege and pushed a Nedved cross-cum-shot out from the near post.
A free kick was deflected into the path of Patrick Vieira and his finish cleared off the line by a defender, as for once Stijnen was beaten.
Christian Abbiati barely touched the ball, especially as on a Brugge corner he completely missed the sphere and only recaptured it after Fabio Cannavaro's intervention.
On 32 minutes, Nedved sidefooted an Ibrahimovic cutback and placed it just past the near post from six yards, as it became increasingly incredible that Brugge were holding on to their clean sheet.
The goalkeeper was again left stranded when Trezeguet met Blasi's cross, somehow sending it on to the frame of the goal and saving the Belgians.
Patrick Vieira earned the first yellow card of the night for a late challenge in midfield, but on the stroke of half-time Stijnen was called into two fantastic flying saves on Trezeguet. The first was on his volley, the second on a looping header from the resulting corner kick.
Juventus went into the break with the scoreline still 0-0 despite creating at least a dozen chances.
The second half started along similar lines, as Ibrahimovic disposessed a defender only to fire over the bar from a tight angle. Brugge gained in confidence and Vermant drove well wide from distance.
The seemingly endless pressure finally paid off on 66 minutes, when Pavel Nedved thumped in a perfect free kick. The Czech bent the ball round the defensive wall and it was struck with such power that the 'keeper couldn't reach it.
Stijnen proved he hadn't lost his magic touch yet, parrying an Ibrahimovic daisy-cutter with an outstretched foot to further frustrate Juventus. The Swede was brought down in an identical position to that of Nedved's set-piece, but this time Ibrahimovic took it and saw his shot accidentally charged down by teammate Trezeguet.
Trezeguet made up for the error soon after, as he scored Juve's second of the match to ensure the points were safe. The Frenchman latched on to Mauro Camoranesi's assist with the outside of his foot, sending the finish looping over a helpless Stijnen. It was an important moment for Trezeguet, who scored the 100th official goal of his Juventus career.
It should've been 3-0 when Zambrotta fought his way past three challenges, but Ibrahimovic miscalculated the flight of the cross and scuffed his shot.
Moments later, the Swede had dribbled round the goalkeeper and a defender, but hesitated and allowed Stijnen to save the shot at the near post, Trezeguet also missing the loose ball on the rebound.
Brugge did threaten when Victor Yulu Matondo skipped over a challenge, but Blasi got back in time to pluck it off his foot as he prepared to pull the trigger.
Emerson was left stunned when he was struck in the face by a fierce Balaban free kick and was able to continue after treatment.
Brugge made it a tense finale, as they grabbed a late goal to give them hope. A wayward shot from a corner kick was redirected into the goal by 19-year-old Yulu Matondo on his Champions League debut, but Abbiati had to take some of the blame, as he was way off his line and saw the header loop over him.
There was panic moments later, as Blondel's header at the far post was only kept out by Blasi's leg, although the Brugge substitute was flagged offside.
To make matters worse, Vieira was shown his second yellow card for a late challenge, sealing his first Juventus dismissal after 10 for Arsenal. Nonetheless, the Bianconeri held on for the victory at the end of a far more difficult match than they had anticipated.
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