Alvaro Morata came back to haunt Real Madrid with a crucial equaliser as Juventus earned a draw at the Bernabeu to reach the Champions League final.
Leading 2-1 from the first leg, Juve fell behind when Cristiano Ronaldo struck from the penalty spot halfway through the first half, duly moving back level with Lionel Messi in the Champions League all-time scoring charts.
Morata, however, popped up with the decisive contribution against his former employers just before the hour mark, firing in after being awarded far too much space.
Gareth Bale spurned several clear-cut opportunities to send the game into extra time but the Old Lady clung on to dump the holders out and end the prospect of a Real-Barcelona final.
Iker Casillas was the first goalkeeper called into action, getting down smartly to save Arturo Vidal’s fizzing effort.
Real were then handed the opportunity to seize the initiative, with Giorgio Chiellini clumsily fouling James Rodriguez after a quarter of the game to put Ronaldo on the spot.
The three-time Ballon d’Or winner, who missed a penalty at the weekend against Valencia, never looked likely to spurn the chance and he emphatically fired the reigning champions ahead on the night and on aggregate.
Ronaldo then engineered space for himself but, for once, elected to pass rather than shoot when the former would have been the better option.
The Italian champions settled and after the break struck the telling blow, as Casillas failed to keep out Morata’s bouncing effort after the Spaniard was allowed the freedom of the Madrid area.
Bale then missed the first of his gilt-edged openings; volleying wide after a flowing move, before Casillas kept the hosts in contention by denying Claudio Marchisio.
The Welshman screwed an effort wide and then nearly repeated his goal from last season's final, but headed over as the Real crowd began to voice their displeasure.
The Italians held their nerve to end Real’s hopes of becoming the first side to retain their title, duly securing their first final berth since 2003 and plunging Bale and Carlo Ancelotti into further uncertainty surrounding their Madrid futures.
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét