Juventus will face Barcelona in the Champions League Final after eliminating Real Madrid 3-2 on aggregate. Alvaro Morata, who grew up in the Merengues youth academy, scored in both legs and the 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu sealed their qualification, the first since 2003. The first leg saw a 2-1 victory for the Bianconeri, but the away goal left it in the balance. Paul Pogba and Karim Benzema returned from injury, though at least the Frenchman managed an hour and scored a goal on Saturday against Cagliari. Sergio Ramos returned to defence and Raphael Varane was picked ahead of Pepe. Juve stuck with a four-man defence and Alvaro Morata faced his former teammates. The history was on Juvea s side, as Madrid hadna t gone through after losing the first leg in 13 years, getting eliminated seven times in a row.
The tone was set for a night of Madrid attacks just 35 seconds in when Marcelo’s deep cross picked out Bale, who headed over the bar. Benzema used a brilliant skill to turn away from Leonardo Bonucci, only to blaze over from close range, before Ronaldo’s free-kick was deflected on to the roof of the net by Arturo Vidal. Madrid were eventually rewarded in the 22nd minute when Chiellini’s clumsy challenge on James Rodriguez gave them a penalty which Ronaldo converted with ease, and there was no let up as they pushed forward again immediately after taking the lead.
A swift counter resulted in Ronaldo cutting back in the penalty area and appeared to give himself an easy shot to score, but chose to cross for Benzema and saw the ball cleared by the backtracking Vidal. When Bale launched a swift counter-attack Ronaldo fired a powerful shot into the side-netting, and Benzema then brought a fine save out of Buffon with a close-range effort before the first half ended with a booking for Rodriguez as he took an exaggerated tumble in the area.
The start of the second half was similar to the first, with Claudio Marchisioa s shot from distance going inches wide of the post. Juve had their equaliser near the hour mark when Pogba headed the ball to Morata whose clever finish found the net.
Bale coulda ve regained Los Blancosa lead soon after, but his volley went wide of the post. James Rodriguez was next to threaten Juvea s goal, but his shot from distance went inches over the bar. The Bianconeri shoulda ve put the game to bed with 20 minutes remaining, but Casillas pulled off an excellent save to deny Marchisioa s one-on-one. The Spanish giants missed another great chance to regain their lead, and tie the game on aggregate, but Balea s header somehow went over the bar. Juve moved to 3-5-2 for the final 11 minutes, replacing an exhausted Andrea Pirlo. Pogba had a glorious chance to win the tie with only three minutes remaining, but his finish was saved really well by the ever-present Casillas But his efforts were in vain as Reala s final realistic hopes of winning a major trophy this season disappeared.
At 10.38pm on a hot night in Madrid the referee blew his whistle and Juventusa s players leapt into the sky and sprinted across the pitch, en route to Berlin. Juventus finally progressed to their eighth European Cup final.
Juventus defended for their lives, despite Reala s best efforts to try and barge down their sturdy door. There will be no ClA?sico final, as many had hoped. Max Allegria s Juventus have defied all the odds and are heading to Berlin to face Barcelona. It means Barcelona forward Luis Suarez is likely to face Chiellini in the final, their first meeting since the Uruguay international was banned for biting the Italy defender at the World Cup in Brazil last summer. Italya s Old Lady is heading for Berlin to face Barcelona, the first time Juventus have reached the Champions League final since 2003. A 1-1 draw was enough to secure a 3-2 aggregate victory that Allegri described as a extraordinarya . Not many expected Juventus to make it this far; still fewer expected them to go further.
As for Madrid, the question now will be whether Carlo Ancelotti continues; a trophyless season tends to end with a jobless manager usually. This was a superb victory for Juventus, for a club that were relegated in disgrace only nine years ago. What was so good about it was the intelligence and the nerve. We take skill and application for granted as well as the tempo and stamina that Antonio Conte brought to them. But Allegri has injected something extra, a confidence in their ability and their methods. Whether they can live with MSN is for another day but with Buffon, Evra, Chiellini and Bonucci there is always hope. Let’s not forget either that nine years ago a certain Andrea Pirlo was man of the match in the World Cup final at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.