It's been a tough week for the defending Champions of Europe. Real Madrid, a team that is used to winning multiple titles in a single season will not be playing for any more titles this season.
Just days after watching the La Liga regular season slip from their grasp, Los Blancos yielded a late second half goal to former teammate Alvaro Morata and Italian Serie A Club, Juventus, advanced to the UEFA Champions League Final in Berlin with a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain. Thanks to a shocking 2-1 victory in the first leg, the team affectionately known across Europe as the "Old Lady," was able to advance 3-2 on aggregate.
Wearing blue with the Italian crest, and looking very much like La Azzurri, Juventus started out slow surrendering multiple opportunities in the first twenty minutes of the match.
In the 22nd minute, Juve defender Giorgio Chiellini was called for a rough foul in the box on Real Madrid's James Rodriguez. The call was questionable to say the least, but Los Blancos was awarded a penalty kick taken by Cristiano Ronaldo that nearly everyone in Europe inevitably knew would be converted.
With the score 1-0 in favor of Madrid heading into the half, most of the world believed that it would be an all Spanish final for the second consecutive year as it appeared Real Madrid would advance by virtue of an away goal in Torino that would send them through to face La Liga rivals Barcelona in Berlin.
However, Juventus did not go quietly into the starry night and came out like gangbusters in the second half. Putting pressure on the injured back four of Real Madrid, Juve finally broke through in the 57th minute thanks to midfielder Paul Pogba. Pogba did not play in the first leg, but made his impact in the second as he headed a pass to Morata off of a corner kick by Chilean native Arturo Vidal.
Juventus would have all the answers defensively down the stretch, even managing multiple scoring opportunities on counter attacks forcing Real Madrid captain, Iker Casillas to make two huge saves to keep the game deadlocked at 1-1.
Gianluigi Buffon and the Bianconeri would prove to be too much to overcome however and the game would finish in a 1-1 draw sending Juventus on to Berlin on June 6th where they will look to hoist the hardware for the first time since 1996.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.