Juve fight back to claim draw at Deportivo

Juventus staged a spectacular fightback to come from 2-0 down to claim a valuable 2-2 draw away to Deportivo Coruna in their opening Champions League second phase match at the Riazor on Tuesday.

Spectacular strikes from defender Alessandro Birindelli and the impressive Pavel Nedved allowed the Serie A side to earn what could prove to be a vital away point after Deportivo had stormed into an early two-goal lead.

The Galicians, who had not lost to the Italian side in their previous four meetings in the competition, had started the match in sparkling fashion.

Argentine defender Lionel Scaloni issued an early warning to the Italian side after he forced a fine save from Juve keeper Gianluigi Buffon with a wickedly swerving shot from just outside the area on seven minutes.

Deportivo opened their account soon afterwards following some fine work by Joan Capdevila on the left.

The Depor defender spun a superb cross into the area where it was met by the advancing Diego Tristan who slipped past his marker before bouncing a header past Buffon to give the home side the lead on nine minutes.

Juve were still reeling from the early blow when Capdevila split their defence open once again.

The Spanish international raced down the wing before whipping in a low cross that was cracked home past a despairing Buffon by leading striker Roy Makaay to make it 2-0.

INCREASINGLY DANGEROUS

The Serie A side took a few minutes to recover their composure but looked increasingly dangerous as the half wore on.

Juanmi stood up well to make a fine block from a Marco Di Vaio shot on 24 minutes after Alessandro del Piero had curled a fine pass behind the defence and the Depor keeper did well to punch a goal-bound Nedved free kick off the line.

Just under a quarter of an hour later the Italians got their reward when Birindelli pulled a goal back with a brilliant solo effort.

The Italian defender found himself in space after he cut in from the left and with the Depor defence backing off he unleashed a spectacular right-foot shot that curled past Juanmi and into the far corner.

Aldo Duscher came with a whisker of restoring Depor's advantage when he turned sharply before drilling his shot just wide of the post.

But it was Juve who found the net once more when Del Piero wrong-footed the Depor defence after slipping a neat pass to Nedved who rifled home past Juanmi on 57 minutes.

Depor coach Javier Irureta tried to stem the tide by pulling off his tiring strikers and bolstering the midfield. His side responded with some good pressure towards the end with substitute Albert Luque twice going close in the dying minutes.

But Juve, who have lost just once in all competitions this season, held out for a draw that must have tasted of victory given their wretched start.