In Pirlo's first match as coach of the Champions League and without Cristiano Ronaldo, the old lady left Ukraine with an important victory thanks to a pair of Spaniards • In the 93rd minute: Bruges defeated Zenit 2: 1
Albero Murata celebrates duo in Kiev, tonight in the Champions League
Photography:
AFP
Less than two months after the end of last season, the home leg of the Champions League kicked off tonight (Tuesday) in the shadow of the Corona virus and its aftermath.
In the case of Juventus, who were hosted by Dynamo Kiev in the seventh house, these consequences included the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo in what was Andrea Pirlo's first game as coach of the Champions League.
Despite a fair amount of crowd in the stands the first half was weak and apart from an early injury to Giorgio Chiellini did not include anything special to tell about him.
The first goal of the game and the first of the season in the Champions League came in the first attack of the second half when at the end of a team move that included Arun Ramsey and Jean Kolosevsky Albero Murata was first for the return ball and scored the 0: 1.
Seven minutes before the end, the Spanish striker was in place again when he turned a great increase by Juan Cuadrado into an accurate shot into the net and a 0: 2 victory.
In the sixth house, Zenit St. Petersburg hosted Club Brugge for the battle between the Russian and Belgian league leaders.
Here, too, the dam was breached after a lukewarm first half.
Nigerian Emanuel Dennis gave Bruges the lead in the 63rd minute, but a quarter of an hour before the end the hosts achieved the equalizer when a tremendous kick from Jean Louvre bounced off the crossbar into the back of Bruges goalkeeper Eitan Horbat and from there into the net.
When the game seemed to end in a draw, 19-year-old Charles de Kitlera arrived in the 93rd minute and gave the Belgians a 1-2 away win.