Carlos Tevez's second-half brace ensured that Group A top seeds Juventus began their Champions League campaign with a win as they beat Malmo 2-0 in Turin this evening.
The Swedish underdogs, playing in this guise of the competition for the first time, held out for nearly an hour before the Serie A champions forced their way through.
© Getty Images
It was Malmo, who were beaten by Nottingham Forest in the 1979 European Cup final, who created the first chance.
Captain Markus Rosenberg, formerly of West Bromwich Albion, crossed to the back post where Magnus Eriksson met the ball with a clean close-range shot which Gianluigi Buffon had to turn around his post.
Juve eventually began to assert their dominance on the tie and Fernando Llorente missed the top corner by inches after showing some smart footwork to lose his marker and unleash a curling shot from 18 yards.
Right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner was nearly an unlikely scorer for the Old Lady just prior to the break as he collected a Tevez pass, only to guide his shot wide with Paul Pogba unmarked to his left.
The home side turned up the heat after the restart and, 15 minutes into the second period, Tevez made the breakthrough as he latched on to Kwadwo Asamoah's clever flick to find the bottom corner.
Pogba then drilled a shot narrowly over the crossbar and was inches away from connecting with Patrice Evra's cross as Malmo began to become overwhelmed by Italian football's dominant force.
Llorente would have doubled Juve's lead had it not been for a fine double save from Malmo goalkeeper Robin Olsen, but Tevez did secure his side the points with a precise free kick on 90 minutes.
No Data Analysis info
