10 October 2016
Two matches on Sunday night, two victories for Juventus' four international representatives, Mario Mandzukic, Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci in Finland and Macedonia respectively.
After a midweek hat-trick against Kosovo, Mandzukic was at it again on Sunday night in Tampere, scoring the only goal in Croatia's 1-0 success over the Finns, the target man's fourth in two matches.
There was to be a win too for Italy last night, albeit at greater cost than expected in Skopje. With Buffon, Barzagli and Bonucci playing the full 90 minutes, the Azzurri took an early lead through Andrea Belotti midway through the first half only to be shaken by a surprising Macedonia comeback after the break.
Within a quarter of an hour of the restart the hosts were in front themselves through Palermo striker Iliya Nestorovski (57') and Ferhan Hasani (59'). The Italians ultimately had Ciro Immobile to thank for a last-gasp revival, the Lazio man equalising on 75 minutes before turning home in the first minute of stoppage time to seal a valuable three points.
Tonight sees the return to action of Stephan Lichtsteiner's Switzerland, away to Andorra, and Miralem Pjanic's Bosnia, at home to Cyprus.
