Luque strike

Deportivo downs Juventus 1-0 for Champions League advantage

A CORUNA, Spain (AP) -- Albert Luque blasted in a 37th-minute volley to lead Deportivo de La Coruna to a 1-0 win against Juventus on Wednesday in the first leg of the Champions League's second round.

Juventus' French defender Lilian Thuram met a Deportivo cross from the right flank with a header that bounced straight up into the air and Luque met the ball on the way down with an angled shot that went past goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

Luque, a Spanish international forward, looked much more upbeat than when he stormed off Deportivo's training field on Monday after an argument with coach Javier Irureta.

And Deportivo once again proved a tough match for Juventus.

In seven matches over four seasons against Deportivo, the Italian league giant has won just once.

"We carried the game to Juventus," Irureta said. "Juve wasn't able to score and now they have to score twice."

Deportivo controlled most of the play and Juve produced few scoring chances.

In the 31st, captain Alessandro Del Piero failed to lift the ball high enough over Deportivo's charging 'keeper Jose Francisco Molina off a nice setup from Pavel Nedved.

Juve midfielder Antonio Conte's header off a Fabrizio Miccoli free kick went just wide in the 64th and Miccoli missed a good chance from just outside the goal area a minute later.

Miccoli replaced David Trezeguet, Juve's leading goalscorer this season, at halftime after the French striker appeared to injure his left shoulder or arm in a collision with Molina in the 41st.

"The toughest part was the errors we made ourselves," said Juventus defender Gianluca Pessotto. "In a close match like this you have to take advantage of the chances you get."

Deportivo nearly went ahead in the 30th on a shot by Victor Sanchez that forced Buffon to make a diving save and an attempt by Victor to make it 2-0 went just wide in the 47th.

A rapidly rising free kick by midfielder Sergio Gonzalez went just over Juve's goal in the 80th.

"We started very focused and then we gave up too many chances," said Juventus coach Marcello Lippi. "In the second half we didn't create enough, although after scoring Deportivo didn't create too many chances either.

"It's too bad we couldn't play our best tonight, but we're hopeful for the return match."

The return leg is scheduled for March 9 in Turin.

Summary

Deportivo Coruna 1 Juventus 0 - result

Champions League first knockout round, first leg

Scorer: Albert Luque 38

Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 28,000

Deportivo Coruna: 1-Jose Molina; 12-Lionel Scaloni, 14-Jorge Andrade, 4-Noureddine Naybet, 3-Enrique Romero; 18-Victor (2-Manuel Pablo 85), 6-Mauro Silva, 8-Sergio, 19-Albert Luque (10-Fran 81), 21-Juan Carlos Valeron; 9-Diego Tristan (7-Walter Pandiani 69)

Juventus: 1-Gianluigi Buffon; 21-Lilian Thuram, 23-Nicola Legrottaglie, 4-Paolo Montero (15-Alessandro Birindelli 56), 19-Gianluca Zambrotta; 7-Gianluca Pessotto (8-Antonio Conte 63), 3-Alessio Tacchinardi, 18-Stephen Appiah, 11-Pavel Nedved; 10-Alessandro Del Piero, 17-David Trezeguet (9-Fabrizio Miccoli 46)

Referee: Gilles Veissiere (France)

Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.