Paul Pogba forced a couple of saves, but Juventus were too wasteful in their 0-0 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach.

Elsewhere Manchester City beat Sevilla 2-1 deep into stoppages to go second, only one point behind Juve, but this is the first point for the Germans.

Paul Pogba forced a couple of saves, but Juventus were too wasteful in their 0-0 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach.

Elsewhere Manchester City beat Sevilla 2-1 deep into stoppages to go second, only one point behind Juve, but this is the first point for the Germans.

The Bianconeri were struggling in Serie A, but looking for a third consecutive Champions League victory and hosted the side bottom of the group. Stephan Lichtsteiner and Martin Caceres were the only remaining injury problems, as Mario Mandzukic returned to the starting XI, while Alex Sandro made a surprise appearance in the 3-5-2 system. Gladbach missed Patrick Hermann, Martin Stranzl and Nico Schulz, but had won all four Bundesliga games since Andre Schubert took over from Coach Lucien Favre.

Alvaro Morata and Raffael blasted off target from distance, while Juan Cuadrado’s screamer skimmed the crossbar from a tight angle. A corner was pulled back to the D for Pogba’s screamer that was heading into the top corner before Granit Xhaka got the block.

Juve started piling on more pressure with Pogba drilling wide, Andreas Christensen risking an own goal to anticipate Mandzukic and Giorgio Chiellini’s header from the resulting corner. Morata wasted a golden opportunity by going for goal rather than rolling across for unmarked Pogba. At the other end, Traore’s cross was just about cleared by Chiellini.

There was a key moment on 42 minutes, as Alvaro Dominguez gave the ball away to Morata and then hacked down the Spaniard as he rushed on goal. The crowd and Max Allegri wanted a red card, but the Scottish referee opted for yellow.

Juventus finally got their first shot on target after the restart, as Yann Sommer palmed a Pogba curler round the base of the far post.

Sommer also flew to beat away a Pogba free kick. Roberto Pereyra was introduced and the tactics changed to 4-3-1-2, but still there was no breakthrough.

The crowd sang for Gigi Buffon as he beat Alessandro Del Piero’s club record of 48,867 minutes of competitive football for Juventus. Morata was substituted and did not set a new record of scoring in six consecutive Champions League games.

Giorgio Chiellini’s volley from a corner was deflected wide, but the Bianconeri failed to make their pressure or possession count.

Juventus 0-0 Monchengladbach

Juventus: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Cuadrado (Pereyra 60), Khedira, Marchisio, Pogba, Alex Sandro; Morata (Dybala 81), Mandzukic (Zaza 70)

Borussia Monchengladbach: Sommer; Korb, Christensen, Dominguez, Wendt; Traore (Hahn 82), Dahoud (Nordtveit 87), Xhaka, Johnson; Stindl, Raffael (Hazard 74)

Ref: Johnson (SCO)

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