Juventus 2-1 Real Madrid

Scorers: Morata 9 (J), Ronaldo 26 (R), Tevez pen 58 (J)

Champions League – Semi-Finals [Tuesday, 5th May – 19:45 GMT] –  Juventus Stadium

An Alvaro Morata goal against his former club and a Carlos Tevez penalty gave Juventus a 2-1 win in the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.

This was Juve’s first Champions League semi-final since 2003 when they also faced Real Madrid, eliminating them 4-3 on aggregate to reach the final against AC Milan.

The Bianconeri were without the injured Paul Pogba who was forced to watch from the stands while Kwadwo Asamoah was still not fully match fit. Stefano Sturaro was handed a first Champions League start in place of Roberto Pereyra while Arturo Vidal was fielded in the trequartista role behind Carlos Teves and Alvaro Morata. Carlo Ancelotti was missing Luka Modric and Karim Benzema but Gareth Bale made a return to the starting XI having recovered from a calf injury.

Juventus dominated from the start, Vidal wasting a good opportunity when played in right in front of Casillas. Sturaro took the initiative from the get-go, fired an angled shot straight at the Madrid keeper. Leonardo Bonucci was booked within the opening five minutes for a challenge outside the box before Morata tested Casillas once against with a lob.

The Bianconeri took a well-deserved lead as Carlos Tevez fired a shot that went through Raphael Varane’s legs to force a save from Casillas but Morata was alert to rebound to tap in. Despite the goal, the former Madrid player chose not to celebrate out of respect.

Buffon performed a great stop on a Toni Kroos shot from distance to force it round the post while at the other end, Sturaro’s effort hit the crossbar but was ruled offside.

Madrid had a good spell and piled on the pressure and sure enough, Ronaldo was on hand to head James Rodriguez’s perfectly timed lob past a stranded Buffon.

Juve regained the momentum as the second half started and Claudio Marchisio shot just wide of Casillas’ far post before Madrid had a chance of their own through Isco. His cross was met by Rodriguez who tried to head the ball in but was a crucial intervention by Sturaro turned the ball onto the bar from close range.

The Bianconeri regained the lead as a swift counter attack through Tevez saw the Argentine brought down by Dani Carvajal. El Apache converted the resulting penalty to score his 29th goal of the season and his seventh in the Champions League this season.

Max Allegri brought on Andrea Barzagli and switched Juventus to a 3-5-2 system, electing to play on the counter in the closing stages. Juve could well have sealed the tie late on but Fernando Llorentes header was straight at Casillas.

 Statistics:

Man of the Match: Arturo Vidal

  Flop of the Match: N/A

  Fouls: 21

  Corners: 1

  Pass Accuracy: 84%

  Shots on Target: 7

  Total Shots: 12

  Ball Possession: 48%

  Formation:  4-3-1-2

Formation:

Lineups:

Juventus: Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Marchisio, Pirlo, Sturaro (Barzagli 64); Vidal; Tevez (Pereyra 86), Morata (Llorente 78)

Real Madrid: Casillas; Carvajal, Pepe, Varane, Marcelo; James, Ramos, Kroos, Isco (Chicharito Hernandez 63); Bale (Jese 86), Ronaldo

Ref: Atkinson (ENG)

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