Villarreal 1-1 Juventus: Player ratings as Vlahovic goal not enough for Juve

A debut Champions League goal from Dusan Vlahovic wasn't enough for Juventus to take the lead in their round of 16 tie with Villarreal, as a second half Dani Parejo goal allowed the home side to head into the second leg with things all level.

Juventus scored the opener inside 32 seconds, but their attempts to hold onto that lead for the remaining 89 minutes and 28 seconds proved to be a rather, well, silly idea. Max Allegri was punished for these negative tactics in the 66th minute, when Parejo stole in unmarked to make it 1-1.

Things were looking good for Juve when Vlahovic opened the scoring in spectacular fashion early on. The mega money signing chested down a long ball from Danilo and brilliantly drilled the ball across goal and into the bottom corner of the net.

From then on Villarreal, as expected, dominated possession and almost reaped the rewards for this dominance in the 12th and 15th minutes.

The first time the home side found a way in behind the patchwork Juve defence led to the ball falling to Giovani Lo Celso around the penalty spot, but he was unable to direct it goalward with a wild left-footed strike. Three minutes later it was Arnaut Danjuma who had a strike on goal - his audacious backheeled effort was well saved by Wojciech Szczesny.

Following those two scares, La Vecchia Signora began to try and gain a foothold in the game. Vlahovic's fantastic hold-up play was key to that, with the Serbian bullying both Raul Albiol and Pau Torres throughout the first half.

On the half-hour mark Juve did spurn a decent chance to double their lead. Alvaro Morata fired over the crossbar after he was found out on the left-hand side of the penalty area by Weston McKennie.

La Vecchia Signora looked very in control at the start of the second half too. They were almost rewarded for this good spell, but Morata once again missing the target after being found by McKennie on the left of box.

Then Villarreal made Juventus - mainly Morata - pay for those missed chances in the 66th minute.

The goal came from Dani Parejo, who ran off the back of a sleeping Adrien Rabiot (he usually is sleeping) to latch onto an Etienne Capoue pass and volley home.

Rabiot was once again in the action ten minutes later, miraculously not earning himself a straight red for a horror tackle. God only knows how he got away with only a yellow, and god only knows how he starts for Juventus week in, week out.

You would've expected Juventus to come out all guns blazing in the final 15 minutes, and while they didn't, Vlahovic did come close to scoring in the 85th minute. The striker's snapshot from outside the penalty was, however, brilliantly saved by Geronimo Rulli.

Juventus player ratings vs Villarreal

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

Wojciech Szczesny (GK) - 5/10 - Decent save to deny Danjuma in the first half. Could do nothing about the equaliser.

Danilo (CB) - 6/10 - Set up the opener with a nice long ball over the top.

Matthijs de Ligt (CB) - 7/10 - The only natural centre-back in the lineup put in another brilliant performance. He's really gone to another level this season.

Alex Sandro (CB) - 4/10 - So not a centre-back, and it did show on occasion, but didn't cost Juve a goal before being hooked at half-time which is a big W.

2. Midfielders & wing-backs

Juan Cuadrado (RWB) - 3/10 - Basically played as a right-back for most of the game. He did not get forward anywhere near enough.

Weston McKennie (CM) - 6/10 - Worked hard at both ends of the pitch and provided quality on the ball at times at times too. Subbed off with what looked to be a rather serious ankle injury.

Manuel Locatelli (CM) - 5/10 - Tidy. Sat deeper than many Juventus fans would like, but did his job admirably until being subbed off. He probably shouldn't have been taken off.

Adrien Rabiot (CM) - N/A - Should've tracked Parejo's run which led to the equaliser. He didn't because he is not a very good footballer. Also should've been sent off for a shocking tackle which he made because, yep, he is not a very good footballer.

Mattia De Sciglio (LWB) - 3/10 - Worked hard, but lacked quality when he had the chance to get forward.

3. Forwards

Dusan Vlahovic (ST) - 8/10 - Scored a wonderful goal 32 seconds into his Champions League debut (a new record). It's fair to say he's big time.

Alvaro Morata (ST) - 2/10 - Just not clinical enough.,,which you already know.

4. Substitutes

Leonardo Bonucci - 7/10 - He was actually quite good after coming off the bench. Juventus need him back fully fit for the second leg.

Arthur Melo - 3/10 - Very meh.

Denis Zakaria - N/A.