It was a match which promised much but in the end did not quite leave fans with their money’s worth. Real Madrid came into this game after being all but taken out of La Liga title contention with a woeful display over the weekend. Juventus, on the other hand, had nothing much to lose. They have already pocketed the Scudetto back home and a loss in the semifinal would still have capped off a brilliant season for the team in general given that teams from Italy have hardly made a dent in UCL over the past few seasons. It was a question of whether the Ronaldo away goal in Turin would make a difference.
It almost did!
Both teams got some reinforcements in this time around. Juventus had their talismanic midfielder Paul Pogba back in the playing eleven, which meant that the young Sturaro who had such a good game last week had to sit out. Pirlo, Pogba and Vidal took charge of the centre with the hard-working Marchisio. Chiellini, Bonucci, Lichtsteiner and Evra stacked up the defence, and Morata played off Tevez who was the lone centre-forward on the day. Real Madrid got a huge boost when Karim Benzema was deemed fit to start – which meant that the horrible slap up position of Sergio Ramos in the midfield space could finally be abandoned and Pepe had to sit out.
Real piles on the pressure
Benzema did make a difference. He created chances for himself and test Buffon in the first half, and his busy and bustling movements gave Ronaldo a lot of freedom to make his runs. Bale was trying very hard and James Rodriguez was running purposefully down the middle as Real noticeably started to build a head of steam.
Juventus fell back at this stage. With the intent to keep the backline strong, there were hardly any attacking moves which were not broken down by the Real midfield. It was not a visual treat of a game at this stage – rather like a slow chess match with Juventus trying to block as Madrid piled on the pressure.
The goal, when it came through a penalty, was not without controversy. Chiellini felt that James had fallen quite easily, but replays showed a clear touch and Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot to tilt the balance towards Real Madrid (1-0). Over the rest of the half Real kept attacking and Ronaldo did miss another opportunity when he blasted wide after being released by Bale.
Second half, same story… almost
The second half started in a similar fashion. Real were swarming all over Juventus trying to get a decisive second goal and Juventus were hardly showing any intent to attack. Marchisio had a rare long ranger from 25 yards which went wide of Casillas’ right hand post.
And then it all unravelled spectacularly. A Pirlo free kick was punched clear by Casillas but somehow Pogba managed to keep it in play by heading it into the six yard box and Morata, who had scored beautifully in the first leg, did an encore. He chested the ball down smartly and drilled it off the ground past a hapless Casillas to even the score (1-1). Juventus was now 3-2 ahead on aggregate and back in the game.
More than 30 minutes were left for Real to mount an all-out charge, but it was not to be their night. Isco went for goal and missed, Gareth Bale headed wide, James Rodriguez saw one almost graze the upright. Ronaldo ran up and down and became a provider in desperation as Real searched in vain for that one goal which would bring them back into the match.
A lot of admiration for Juventus – with Barzagli coming in in the second half, the back four played a very solid game and soaked up wave after wave of Real attacks. They might have been lucky on a couple of occasions but with Buffon leading from the goal it did not look like Real had the key to unlock more goals.
In the end, the defending champions went down fighting and with lots to think about for next season, leaving Carlo Ancelotti a worried man. Massi Allegri, on the other hand, was grinning like a child. The legend of Conte was no longer a millstone around his neck – as the Old Lady took a firm step towards that big day in Berlin. The final may not be an El Clasico, but it will have two teams who are quite nicely matched.
Rathindra Basu lives, breathes, sleeps sports and is forever waiting for the next Indian sporting triumph. Since this usually takes much time and infinite patience he also listens to music, reads voraciously and eats almost anything that moves!
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It almost did!
Both teams got some reinforcements in this time around. Juventus had their talismanic midfielder Paul Pogba back in the playing eleven, which meant that the young Sturaro who had such a good game last week had to sit out. Pirlo, Pogba and Vidal took charge of the centre with the hard-working Marchisio. Chiellini, Bonucci, Lichtsteiner and Evra stacked up the defence, and Morata played off Tevez who was the lone centre-forward on the day. Real Madrid got a huge boost when Karim Benzema was deemed fit to start – which meant that the horrible slap up position of Sergio Ramos in the midfield space could finally be abandoned and Pepe had to sit out.
Real piles on the pressure
Benzema did make a difference. He created chances for himself and test Buffon in the first half, and his busy and bustling movements gave Ronaldo a lot of freedom to make his runs. Bale was trying very hard and James Rodriguez was running purposefully down the middle as Real noticeably started to build a head of steam.
Juventus fell back at this stage. With the intent to keep the backline strong, there were hardly any attacking moves which were not broken down by the Real midfield. It was not a visual treat of a game at this stage – rather like a slow chess match with Juventus trying to block as Madrid piled on the pressure.
The goal, when it came through a penalty, was not without controversy. Chiellini felt that James had fallen quite easily, but replays showed a clear touch and Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot to tilt the balance towards Real Madrid (1-0). Over the rest of the half Real kept attacking and Ronaldo did miss another opportunity when he blasted wide after being released by Bale.
Second half, same story… almost
The second half started in a similar fashion. Real were swarming all over Juventus trying to get a decisive second goal and Juventus were hardly showing any intent to attack. Marchisio had a rare long ranger from 25 yards which went wide of Casillas’ right hand post.
And then it all unravelled spectacularly. A Pirlo free kick was punched clear by Casillas but somehow Pogba managed to keep it in play by heading it into the six yard box and Morata, who had scored beautifully in the first leg, did an encore. He chested the ball down smartly and drilled it off the ground past a hapless Casillas to even the score (1-1). Juventus was now 3-2 ahead on aggregate and back in the game.
More than 30 minutes were left for Real to mount an all-out charge, but it was not to be their night. Isco went for goal and missed, Gareth Bale headed wide, James Rodriguez saw one almost graze the upright. Ronaldo ran up and down and became a provider in desperation as Real searched in vain for that one goal which would bring them back into the match.
A lot of admiration for Juventus – with Barzagli coming in in the second half, the back four played a very solid game and soaked up wave after wave of Real attacks. They might have been lucky on a couple of occasions but with Buffon leading from the goal it did not look like Real had the key to unlock more goals.
In the end, the defending champions went down fighting and with lots to think about for next season, leaving Carlo Ancelotti a worried man. Massi Allegri, on the other hand, was grinning like a child. The legend of Conte was no longer a millstone around his neck – as the Old Lady took a firm step towards that big day in Berlin. The final may not be an El Clasico, but it will have two teams who are quite nicely matched.
Rathindra Basu lives, breathes, sleeps sports and is forever waiting for the next Indian sporting triumph. Since this usually takes much time and infinite patience he also listens to music, reads voraciously and eats almost anything that moves!