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<\/a><\/p>\nTURIN, Italy (Reuters) – Juventus took a small step towards the last four of the Europa League as Federico Gatti’s second-half goal secured the hosts a 1-0 victory over Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of their quarter-final on Thursday. <\/p>\n
Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri changed the formation that lost 2-1 to Lazio in Serie A on Saturday to a more attacking one with three forwards, but with limited success.<\/p>\n
“I always say that football is not a mathematical equation. I decided to use those three upfront, we were often left unbalanced against a strong opponent like Sporting,” he told Sky Sport Italy.<\/p>\n
The first chance fell to Federico Chiesa who fired an angled shot from inside the box that Sporting goalkeeper Antonio Adan parried away. <\/p>\n
Sporting dominated much of the match and had chances to score in the first half. Captain Sebastian Coates had a shot saved by Juve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny before Gleison Bremer cleared a Nuno Santos effort off the line.<\/p>\n
Juve had to substitute Szczesny shortly before the break, the Poland international holding his chest before being replaced by Mattia Perin.<\/p>\n
“I am fine, I was a little anxious, but we did all the tests and everything is fine,” Szczesny said.<\/p>\n
“I was scared, it had never happened to me before, I was struggling to breathe and it really worried me.”<\/p>\n
Substitute Dusan Vlahovic’s 73rd-minute header was blocked on the line by Coates and Gatti bundled the rebound in from close range. <\/p>\n
Juve midfielder Paul Pogba made his first appearance outside of Serie A this season when he came on as a late substitute for Angel Di Maria and he made a superb double intervention in stoppage time to stop Sporting from scoring.<\/p>\n
“We made a few mistakes, the lads can improve, above all in the final cross when Perin made two crucial saves, we should\u2019ve sensed the danger earlier,” Allegri said. <\/p>\n
The result continued Sporting’s winless run in Italy. Four of their 16 games in the country have resulted in draws and 12 in defeat.<\/p>\n
The second leg is next Thursday at Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon. The winners will face either Sevilla or Manchester United in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n
\n(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk,; Editing by Christian Radnedge and Ed Osmond)<\/p>\n
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