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It was the former Real Madrid player, Alvaro Morata, who made a return to the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night, scoring he winning goal for Juventus to advance to the UEFA Champions League Final. Real Madrid and Juventus went head to head for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final round and Juventus were able to win the game. They will play in their first final since the 2003 season.
Going in to the game with a first leg deficit, Real Madrid came into the game with a goal of taking out Juventus and become the first team to defend the UEFA League Title. Madrid was able to get ahead in the 23rd min with a penalty goal taken by Cristiano Ronaldo but Morata was able to net one back in the 57th min to end all hopes for Madrid. Both sides had a couple more chances to score but at the end, Juventus was able to secure their the final spot to be played against Barcelona on June 6th at Berlin, their eighth appearance.
The first half was controlled by Real Madrid and did not seem to stop pressuring Juventus throughout the half. It took only 40 seconds for Gareth Bale to head one over the bar and try to get his team up ahead. Karim Benzema, who was making his first appearance in a month following a knee injury, showed good control to create space for a shot with a bicycle kick, only to see it go over the bar before Ronaldo’s deflected free-kick landed on the top of the net.
Arturo Vidal had a chance with a low effort that forced Iker Casillas into action for the first time, but the main threat continued from Carlo Ancelotti’s team. Gareth Bale’s dipping attempt from 25 meters was pushed away by Gianluigi Buffon.
It was not until the 23rd min that we saw Madrid on the scoreboard when Giorgio Chiellini brought down James Rodriguez inside the box to award Madrid a penalty. Ronaldo, who missed a penalty on Saturday against Valencia, stepped up to take the penalty and held his nerves from the spot as he was able to clip the ball over a diving Buffon.
Ronaldo had a chance to give his team a 3-2 lead in aggregate minutes before the second half when Benzema found him on a run on the left side. As Ronaldo entered the box, he was not able to break fast enough but tricked Chiellini in taking the shot. Chiellini slid, thinking Ronaldo was going to take the shot but saw him have open space. Ronaldo thought twice about taking the shot but instead passed it to Benzema, who could not finish the play. Ronaldo hit the post out of frustration after and knew he should have taken that opportunity.
The second half belonged to Juventus even though Ancelotti’s side pressured a couple of times. But it was not until the 57th min that Juventus got a goal and took the 3-2 lead on aggregate. Madrid had failed to clear Andrea Pirlo’s free-kcik and Paul Pogba, who was on the starting lineup for the first time since March following a injury, jumped for the ball and headed it towards Morata, who strike it past Casillas.
Bale had a chance to get one behind the net when a slick passing from James and Marcelo unlocked the defense and under pressure, saw Bale volley it wide. Juventus held on though and might have have put the tie beyond Madrid to win the game as Vidal slipped a pass through Claudio Marchisio but Casillas was there to rescue Madrid from being two goals behind.
A couple more chances were taken from both sides but at the end, it was Juventus that celebrated their win and secure a spot in the Champions League final.
Juventus will be facing FC Barcelona coming June 6th at Berlin and hope to secure their third League trophy. The man of the Match goes out to Alvaro Morata, who returned to the Santiago Bernabeu and was able to put on behind the net of his former team to help his team go to the final.
