Shakhtar Donetsk hold giants Juventus
Juventus was held to a 1-1 draw by Shakhtar Donetsk in its first Champions League match at its new stadium on Tuesday.
Alex Teixeira gave Shakhtar a deserved lead in the 23rd minute and that seemed to shock Juventus awake as Leonardo Bonucci leveled for the Serie A champion just three minutes later.
Shakhtar had several chances to restore its lead, mainly through the impressive Willian, who also hit the crossbar in stoppage time.
It is Juventus' second draw in the competition this season after it held defending champion Chelsea 2-2 in London. Shakhtar kicked off its Champions League campaign with a 2-0 win over FC Nordsjaelland.
Shakhtar had won all 13 of its previous matches this season, both domestically and in Europe.
While Shakhtar failed to maintain its perfect record, Juventus managed to continue its unbeaten start to the season, after extending its league record to 45 games unbeaten at the weekend.
The Italian side was also hoping for a victory in its first European match at the Juventus Stadium - which was opened last season.
Shakhtar got off to an impressive start and had several chances to take an early lead. The Ukrainian side could have gone in front as early as the sixth minute when Willian released Razvan Rat whose diagonal pass was blazed over by Henrik Mkhitaryan at the far post.
That was a sign of things to come as Willian was at the crux of everything for Shakhtar. Moments later the Brazilian cut the ball back to Fernandinho who blasted a low, rasping shot just past the left upright.
Shakhtar went even closer when Luiz Adriano sent in a great cross but Willian got in a tangle with Juventus defender Stephan Lichsteiner near the goal as he was closing in on the ball. Luiz Adriano screamed for a penalty but the referee waved away his appeals.
Juventus had to wait until the 14th minute for its first sight on goal. Mirko Vucinic crossed in towards Alessandro Matri, who was a whisker away from connecting with the ball, right in front of goal, but Yaroslav Rakitskiy deflected it just past his outstretched boot.
It went close again moments later as Andrea Pirlo sent a brilliant ball over the defense to Claudio Marchisio, who volleyed an angled effort just over the bar.
Shakhtar took the lead when Willian bamboozled the Juve defense and cut a ball across the area to Teixeira who fired it under the crossbar.
Juve almost leveled immediately but Matri's effort was deflected out for a corner by Rakitskiy.
However, it did equalize seconds later as Bonucci had plenty of time to lash Pirlo's corner in from 16 yards.
It almost took the lead on the half hour mark as Arturo Vidal tripped on the edge of the area as he was about to let fly, and the ball came back out to Matri but his effort went straight into the arms of Shakhtar goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov.
Juve improved as the half went on and could even have gone in at the break ahead, following another corner in stoppage time, but Pyatov did well to stop Bonucci's downward header with his feet.
The home side almost had a great chance to take the lead shortly after the restart as Lichtsteiner found Matri, but the Juve striker took too long to control the ball and was swiftly closed down by the Shakhtar defense.
Shakhtar should have restored its lead just before the hour mark following a rapid counterattack, but Willian's fierce effort scraped the outside of the right post.
Juventus went closer moments later as Sebastian Giovinco - who had just come on for Vucinic - put in a great cross which Matri lobbed over the bar with Pyatov grounded.
Marchisio could have put Juve in front in the 70th minute as he was inches away from connecting with Lichsteiner's cross, right in front of goal.
Willian almost scored a late winner as he tried his luck from distance but his effort flew just past the right hand post.
He went even closer in stoppage time when his snapshot crashed off the crossbar.