29.11.2013 02:12 h

Football: Juventus looking to seal last 16 place in style

Alex Teixeira trifft zum 0:1
Alex Teixeira trifft zum 0:1

Juventus coach Antonio Conte said his side will be playing for a win when they head to Galatasaray in a fortnight looking for a stylish qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League.

Chilean international Arturo Vidal was the hero for the Old Lady, scoring all three goals in a 3-1 win over FC Copenhagen in Turin on Wednesday, including two from the penalty spot, to secure Juve's first win in Group B and put them within sight of the knockout phase.

With Real Madrid securing first place after a 4-1 win at home to Galatasaray, Juventus replaced the Turks in second on six points and now hold a two-point lead on both Galatasaray and Copenhagen.

Juve, held 2-2 at home to the Turkish giants last month, now just need a point from their trip to Turkey to secure their last 16 ticket for the second consecutive season.

However Conte said: "It's not in our nature to go out and play for a draw. We will be going there looking to win, as we always do."

Despite expecting a fiery welcome in Istanbul, Conte was buoyed by the fact Juventus no longer have to rely on their group opponents to seal what would be their second successive qualification to the knockout phase.

"Now, we're in a position to control our own future in the competition. We totally deserved the win but if we hadn't conceded a goal I would have been even happier," added Conte, whose side have not conceded in Italy's Serie A in five games.

"We made life difficult for ourselves at times but we got back on top of things with the second and third goals."

Juve ideally required a win against the Danes to relaunch what has been an uninspiring campaign, and after being frustrated on their way to a 1-1 draw in Copenhagen the Italian champions did not disappoint.

Juventus dominated Stale Solbakken's men from the outset and nerves were settled when Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson pointed to the spot for a blatant handball by Copenhagen captain Lars Jacobsen just before the half hour.

Vidal made no mistake from the spot, beating Johan Wiland to the keeper's right hand side.

Copenhagen emerged with more purpose after the restart and were soon level but before then Tevez fired over and when Fernando Llorente sent the ball into path of Vidal the Chilean's effort crawled over the bar.

A minute later, Copenhagen caught the Italian champions unawares after a throw-in from the right, Olaf Mellberg -- formerly of Aston Villa and Juventus -- slammed a loose ball past Gianluigi Buffon after Giorgio Chiellini and Llorente had blundered while rising for the ball.

Fears of an upset were allayed barely five minutes later when Llorente won a penalty, holding up the ball and being fouled by Mellberg. Vidal stepped up to beat Wiland for the second time to restore Juve's advantage.

Juventus virtually ended all hopes of a fightback by the Danes only two minutes later when Vidal timed his jump perfectly to meet Pogba's floated cross from the left to head past Wiland at the keeper's far post.

Vidal admitted scoring his first triple been a "dream" come true.

"It's unbelievable, I can't believe I'm going home with the match ball tonight, it's been signed by everyone on the team. It's a dream for me," said the Chilean.

Minutes later, however, Youssef Toutouh forced Buffon down low to block at his near post with an angled strike and then another penalty box mix-up caused panic among Juve's defence before second-half substitute Claudio Marchisio cleared.

Juventus, however, dominated the remainder of the game with Pogba spurning a chance at the death to get his name on the scoresheet after skewing Pirlo's delivery wide from 20 metres.