Juve faces intense return in Dortmund: Morata

Juventus will have to be at its best if it is to overcome Borussia Dortmund in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie to qualify for the quarterfinals, Alvaro Morata said on Tuesday.

Spanish striker Morata hit his maiden Champions League goal for the Italian champion to seal a 2-1 first-leg win in a thrilling encounter in Turin, where Dortmund winger Marco Reus took advantage of a defensive howler to level five minutes after Carlos Tevez’s 13th-minute opener.

Juventus, which lost Andrea Pirlo to a suspected hamstring injury, was much improved in the second half as Dortmund’s first-half efforts at keeping a rein on Juve’s creative midfielders began to tell.

Yet Massimiliano Allegri’s side went on to spurn several chances to extend its advantage after the restart, leaving Dortmund — beaten finalist two years ago — with a solid chance of progressing to the last eight.

The sides meet at the BVB Stadion on March 18 and Morata said: “It will be an intense atmosphere, we will have to be at our best but we’ ll be going there with qualification on our minds.

The former Real Madrid striker continued: “It’s the best game I’ve played since I’ve been at Juventus, we did well. But it was a difficult game, Dortmund are a srong side despite the fact they’re having some difficulties in the league.”

Allegri had warned of the threat of Dortmund’s potent counter-attack but it was from such a move that Tevez broke the deadlock when he bundled the rebound from Morata’s drive across goal past outstretched ’ keeper Roman Weidenfeller.

Juventus looked to be in its stride but its joy was ended minutes later fol- lowing a howler by Giorgio Chiellini.

The central defender slipped on the edge of the area, missed the ball completely and clattered into Leonardo Bonucci, allowing Reus to waltz in and collect before picking his spot against a rooted Gianluigi Buffon.

The reality of Dortmund’s awaygoal leveler appeared to take hold.

Allegri said: “We definitely struggled a little in the first half, when they closed down a lot of our passes.”

It was a game of two halves for the Bundesliga struggler, and left coach Juergen Klopp visibly frustrated. Asked if he was angry, he said: “Yes ... it was a fair result and Juventus deserved the win.

“Particularly in the second half Juventus created a lot of chances that they didn’t put away and we didn’t create the chances we should have.”