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.
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 Juve’s side, as Madrid hadn’t gone through after losing the first leg in 13 years, getting eliminated seven times in a row.
Gareth Bale and Benzema turned over from promising positions, but Juventus certainly did not sit back in the opening stages at the Santiago Bernabeu. Cristiano Ronaldo’s free kick took a deflection off the wall to land on the roof of the net.
After 13 minutes Iker Casillas got down to turn an Arturo Vidal low drive away after good work from Carlos Tevez.
Benzema sprung the offside trap and could’ve gone for goal, but tried to roll across for Ronaldo and it was crucially intercepted. Gigi Buffon’s first real intervention was after 20 minutes, flying across his goal to punch away a Bale blockbuster from distance.
The game changed when Giorgio Chiellini clumsily bumped into the back of James Rodriguez’s calf and the referee opted for a penalty. Juve were furious, but Cristiano Ronaldo buried the spot-kick into the roof of the net. This gave Real Madrid a 1-0 lead on the night, but above all 2-2 on aggregate with an advantage in away goals.
The Merengues were fired up, but a dangerous Benzema counter-attack and Sergio Ramos overhead kick from the corner came to nothing. Buffon also plucked a Benzema header out of the air.
Juventus had more possession in the first half, but wasted a promising counter-attack and were almost caught out twice on the break by Ronaldo hitting the side-netting and a great Buffon save at the near post on Benzema.
After the restart Claudio Marchisio’s snapshot whistled wide, as did Marcelo’s effort, while Vidal wasted a promising move by passing when Morata had strayed offside.
Juve found the breakthrough and, like the first leg, it was Real Madrid youth product Morata who got the goal. A free kick was knocked back down by Pogba for Morata, whose shot into the ground from 12 yards bounced over Casillas. Once again, he did not celebrate out of respect for his roots.
Bale turned wide from point-blank range, while a Marchisio pass across the face of goal was just beyond Morata. James Rodriguez fired a scorcher inches over the bar, but Marchisio was sent clear by Vidal and tried to side-foot it into the far bottom corner, prompting a splendid Casillas save.
Bale’s volley and a header from three yards were both over the bar, then on 74 minutes Chicharito Hernandez had penalty appeals for a clumsy Patrice Evra challenge from behind.
Juve moved to 3-5-2 for the final 11 minutes, replacing an exhausted Andrea Pirlo. Pogba played on for almost the entire 90, but fatigue showed when Fernando Llorente pulled back and his shot was beaten out from under the bar by Casillas from 12 yards.
Real Madrid 1-1 Juventus (2-3 on agg)
Scorers: Ronaldo pen 23 (R), Morata 57 (J)
Real Madrid: Casillas; Carvajal, Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Kroos, Isco, James; Ronaldo, Benzema (Chicharito 67), Bale
Juventus: Buffon; Lichsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Pirlo (Barzagli 79), Pogba (Pereyra 89), Marchisio; Vidal; Morata (Llorente 84), Tevez
Ref: Eriksson (SWE)