Tottenham v Juventus match report: Spurs pay price for slow start against Italian champions in Melbourne

An under-strength Tottenham Hotspur side began their pre-season campaign with defeat in Melbourne on Tuesday, going down 2-1 to Italian champions Juventus.

Paulo Dybala and Medhi Benatia made the most of defensive mistakes to put Juventus two ahead after just 14 minutes against an experimental Spurs starting line-up.

Substitute Erik Lamela halved the deficit midway through the second half and, along with debutant Victor Wanyama, led a much-improved second half showing, but they were unable to find an equaliser.

Spurs coach Mauricio Pochettino spoke of his sides' improved second-half showing: “It was a very good second half & in the end I'm happy,” the Argentine said. “It's not about the result, it's about pre-season. It was a great experience for us. Lots of things to learn and lots of positives. I'm very pleased with our young players. Our supporters were fantastic. Hopefully they were pleased with the second half & proud of our young players."

The Premier League side now face last season's Champions League finalists Atletico Madrid at the same venue on Friday as they complete their International Champions Cup challenge, before taking on Internazionale in Norway next week.

Pochettino's side travelled to Australia without nine of their 10 Euro 2016 players, Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Danny Rose, Kyle Walker, Toby Alderweireld, Mousa Dembele and Hugo Lloris and Ben Davies all given extra time to recover from their exploits in France. Austrian Kevin Wimmer travelled but was not involved against Juventus.

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Spurs started with familiar names Michel Vorm, Kieran Tripper, Ryan Mason, Heung-min Son, Nacer Chadli and Tom Carroll, while new signings Wanyama and Vincent Janssen made their first appearances. Youngsters Dominic Ball, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Will Miller all started in defence.

Juventus were also without a number of star names, including Gigi Buffon, Patrice Evra, Paul Pogba and Dani Alves, but it was they who settled quicker and raced into a two-goal lead at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Ball and Miller both ceded possession from a Tottenham attack before Carter-Vickers missed with a lunging tackle, allowing Dybala to race on to Roberto Pereyra's through ball and beat Michel Vorm with ease on the angle.

Massimiliano Allegri's side quickly doubled their lead, Ball only managing to clear a corner to the edge of the area, where Miralem Pjanic floated the ball back in for Benatia to head across and over Vorm. Spurs protested after a slight push by the scorer on Trippier, to no avail.

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Tottenham struggled to create anything of note before the interval, with Miller making half-hearted claims for a penalty after going down in betweek Pol Lirola and Benatia.

Carroll showed clever feet and Wanyama cut a composed, strong figure but Juventus were well worth their interval lead.

Lamela led the Tottenham newboys onto the field for the second-half and it was the Argentine who quickly began testing Neto in the Italians' goal, finding particular joy down the Juventus right.

It was the club record buy who eventually reduced the arrears midway through the second period, taking advantage of some good work by Wanyama in winning the ball back before letting the ball run across him and striking back across Neto into the far corner of the net.

A galvanised Tottenham kept up the pressure, with the tiny but highly-rated Marcus Edwards particularly catching the eye, and Lamela and fellow sub Shayon Harrison went close in the closing minutes.

Juventus had long since settled for the victory, often content to let Tottenham pass the ball around midfield without really threatening the back line.

Work to do for last season's unlikely title challengers, although that second period will give Pochettino hope, along with the return of his more stellar names.

The big Premier League kick-off - Spurs starting their campaign at Goodison Park - is now just 18 days away.