Adrien Rabiot’s early goal gave Juventus a 1-1 draw with Sporting on Thursday in a thrilling Europa League match, enabling them to advance 2-1 overall and into the semifinal against Sevilla.
Juventus gained a 1-0 win in the first leg thanks to a goal from defender Federico Gatti in the second half. Juventus had earlier on Thursday had their 15-point punishment in Serie A for the club’s transfer transactions cancelled pending a new trial.
On May 11 and 18, they will face Sevilla in the semi-finals after the Spanish team eliminated Manchester United 5-2 overall.
Rabiot’s close-range goal after nine minutes, after a corner, gave Juventus the early advantage.
After Rabiot was given a penalty for a challenge on Manuel Ugarte, Sporting winger Marcus Edwards equalized from the spot in the 20th minute, sending Juve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny the wrong way with a shot into the centre of the net.
Moments before, the Lisbon side had struck the woodwork.
When defender Ousmane Diomande connected with a corner in the 35th minute, Sporting came close to taking a shocking lead and tying the game. However, his header just missed the goal.
Nuno Santos of Sporting attempted to square the ball inside the box from the left just before halftime, but Juventus defender Gleison Bremer stopped the danger in front of the diving Szczesny.
Sporting pushed confidently for control after the interval, but they missed three further chances to equalize the game.
When defender Ricardo Esgaio pounced on a ball on the outside of the box in the 75th minute, Ruben Amorim’s team could have scored, but Sebastian Coates missed two further opportunities minutes later.
After two loses and two draws in their previous four home European games, Sporting has now played five consecutive matches without a victory for the first time in the club’s history.
Their past seven games against Italian clubs have all ended in losses.
