By SCM Staff Writer in Turin I Wednesday, Nov.05, 2025
TURIN – Luciano Spalletti’s reign at Juventus hit another bum note as a last-gasp leveller from Sporting saw them snatch a 1-1 draw in Turin.
The Old Lady looked to have sealed a vital Champions League win after Dušan Vlahović finally remembered where the goal was.
But just as the home fans were clearing their throats for a victory song, super-sub Chico pounced in the 89th minute to silence the Allianz Stadium and leave Juve’s European hopes hanging by a thread.
It was the same old story for Spalletti’s struggling side, who have now won just one of their last six games.
They huffed and puffed for an hour before Vlahović, who had missed a sitter in the first half, bundled home a cross from the right to make it 1-0.
The £70m Serb wheeled away, kissing the badge like he’d just won the lottery, and for a while, it looked like his strike would be enough.
But this Juve side has a soft underbelly.
They dropped deeper, inviting the plucky Portuguese side onto them. And they paid the ultimate price.
With the clock ticking down, a hopeful ball into the box wasn’t dealt with. The ball broke kindly to substitute Chico, who had only been on the pitch for five minutes, and he made no mistake, lashing a left-footed volley into the top corner.
Juve’s stars collapsed to the turf. Spalletti, who had been prowling his technical area like a caged lion, simply stared into the middle distance.
The new boss later fumed: “We cannot
concede a goal like this. It is a lack of concentration.
”We had the game in our hands and we threw it away. This is not acceptable for Juventus.”
The result leaves Juve in third place in Group C, two points behind Sporting with just two games left to play.
They now face a must-win trip to Real Madrid on Matchday 5.
On this evidence, they’d be lucky to get out of the Bernabeu with their shorts.
