Juventus 3 Fulham 1: Cottagers cling to Dickson Etuhu's lifeline as David Trezeguet runs riot
Trezegol delivers: David Trezeguet hit Juve's third
After narrowly avoiding relegation from the Barclays Premier League less than two years ago, Fulham fans would never have dreamt of playing Juventus in the last 16 of the Europa League.
But here they were yesterday, sipping their beer in the sun in one of the city's piazzas in anticipation of the biggest European match in their club's history.
There was, therefore, a definite feeling of anti-climax when the Stadio Olimpico boasted more empty grey seats than Juventus fans. Fewer than 9,000 home supporters turned up in the 27,000- seater stadium, but Fulham sold out their allocation and brought 1,537 fans from west London.
The sense of bathos continued as David Trezeguet forced a save inside eight minutes from Mark Schwarzer and Juventus scored from the resulting corner as Diego's delivery was headed in by central defender Nicola Legrottaglie.
It was immediately apparent that this was not going to be a repeat of Fulham's 4-0 FA Cup victory over Notts County, the side who inspired Juventus' famous black and white striped shirts, and it was Fulham who looked in danger of being turned over in Turin.
Juventus struck again after 25 minutes. A probing build-up ended with Jonathan Zebina sidestepping Simon Davies and Dickson Etuhu before dispatching a fierce right-foot shot into the left hand corner from just outside the box.
Fulham conceded one Premier League goal in the whole of February but last night they were two down inside half an hour. Yet not only did the English side manage to keep the score respectable, they got an away goal with their first real attack of the match.
Lucky strike: Etuhu gives Fulham a ray of hope with his deflected away goal
A Davies free-kick into a crowded penalty area was met by Etuhu and the ball was deflected twice before dribbling over the line to beat former Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Manninger. It was a fortunate goal to say the least, but it gave Fulham the belief they had lacked in a shellshocked first 30 minutes and sparked something of a revival.
Brede Hangeland forced a fine save from Manninger with a close-range header from a Davies corner and Zoltan Gera hit the target with a left-foot strike just before half-time.
But Fulham's prominence was short-lived as Trezeguet showed his class with the 170th goal of his Juventus career. The former France centre forward, who is returning from injury, fired a shot at Schwarzer from a Diego corner and hit the rebound first time to outwit the Australia goalkeeper just before half-time.
It gets worse for Schwarzer, the Barclays Premier League player of the month in February: he has to face Wayne Rooney at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said: 'I thought when we went 1-0 down against the run of play and at 2-1 I thought we were looking reasonable. There's going to be an element of fatigue but what killed the game for us was the goal in the 46th minute.
'Our major regret was that, at 2-1, when the possibility of a result was in our hands that we conceded a goal in added-on time in the first half.'
But Fulham are still in this tie and boast an impressive home record at Craven Cottage, which is sold out for the return leg on March 18.
Scorching strike: Fulham paid the price for backing off Jonathan Zebina
Hodgson added: 'It's not impossible. We're not out of it yet. 'I don't think we were favourites before the game started, we're even less favourites now but it'll be an exciting game. I've certainly seen stranger things than us turning it round.'
There was further good news for Fulham as Paul Konchesky and Clint Dempsey, who both suffered knee injuries against Blackburn in January, came through 90 minutes and half an hour respectively.
With 46 games played already this season and Manchester United, Juventus, Manchester City and Tottenham in store over the next two weeks, Fulham certainly need all their resources available.
Off to a flyer: Juve's Nicola Legrottaglie (third left) nods in the opener
Hodgson said: 'It's a testing time but to come to a place like Juventus and have as much control as we did for long periods is very commendable.
'Perhaps we weren' t as sprightly as we've been in some games but I thought we looked organised, capable of keeping the ball and getting behind them, but it was the last pass or the last cross that didn't quite arrive.
'But the Juventus back four will know they've been in a game and will be thankful for (Fabio) Cannavaro making several vital interceptions from crosses.'
