Thiago Motta, the Juve coach, approves of the new Champions League format: “I like the new format because we face different teams each games, so the preparation is always different. It’s an extra opportunity to grow and improve, to test our level. We face a team that is strong in counterattacks. We must be focused in our defensive work and not leave spaces for them to attack in midfield.”

First place to start, of course, is this fine piece by Rob Smyth.

The pace of the game was ferocious, but most of the decisive moments involved players who had their bodies in the oven and their brains in the fridge. In the 51st minute, after a flurry of tackles in the inside-right channel, Gordon Cowans calmly danced away from Massimo Bonini and curved the ball out to the left-back, Gibson. He looked, as Villa always did, for the abundant head of Peter Withe at the far post, but the ball did not reach him. Cowans arrived late in the box and planted a joyous flying header past Dino Zoff.

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