A "galactic" Juve. The bianconeri beat Real Madrid and thus won the first round of the semi-final of the Champions League, the penultimate step before the final on 6 June. A test of strength that of the Lady, much more than the 2-1 final says. Because at the Stadium, facing the reigning European champions, we saw a lucid and determined team, not at all intimidated by their opponents. The qualification issue remains very open, God forbid, and it's a safe bet that, in a week's time, the Bernabeu will have endless pitfalls in store, but Juventus have shown that they can play it, moreover without too much reverential fear.
“On the eve I would have signed to win 2-1 – exulted Massimiliano Allegri. – I'm happy with what the boys did, they had the merit of facing Real Madrid head on, it wasn't easy. You have to know how to play these matches, you have to understand when to push and when to manage: I think that, from that point of view, the team has grown a lot since the start of the season. I am very satisfied with the maturity with which we have faced this Champions League, however it ends".
The big winner of the evening is just him. The Juventus coach prepared the match perfectly: 4-3-1-2 with Sturaro in the midfield and Vidal in the trocar, a sort of hinge good at opening and closing according to the moments. And so Real Madrid, fielded by Ancelotti with an atypical 4-4-2 (Ramos and Kroos in the midfield, James and Isco on the flanks, Ronaldo and Bale in attack), skidded from the start. Ready to go and Sturaro, preferred to Pereyra against all odds, commits Casillas with a stone from a distance. A few moments later Morata, a great ex of the match, tries to surprise with a lob from the edge of the area.
The goal was ripe and Juve found it in the 9th minute: Tevez's right-footed shot in the corner, a clearance by Casillas and a tap-in by the Spanish forward, who started in a regular position. Spectacular action (27 passes, absolute record of the Champions League, surpassed even Guardiola's Bayern!), in which all the players participate except Buffon and Sturaro. The 1-0 exalts Juve but, at the same time, wakes up the European champions. The pressure rises and the Allegri's consequently drop in their own half. Serious mistake, although almost impossible to avoid. Because the blancos, while lacking Modric's direction and Benzema's cynicism, have plenty of champions on the pitch.
In the 27th minute Carvajal and James invent a spectacular action from the right which Ronaldo, as usual, converts into a goal: 1-1. It is the most difficult moment of the match, the one in which Ancelotti's men could take the chair, perhaps definitively. In the 41st minute Isco brushed in for James, the Colombian just had to push on goal but sensationally hit the crossbar. We go to half-time on a level score, with the feeling that Madrid could take the lead at any moment. And instead the interval does much better for Juventus.
Short lines and furious pressing, just like in the first few minutes: the recipe works and in the 57th minute, on a restart, it proves devastating. Tevez starts ball and chain and aims for Carvajal, the young Spaniard knocks him out and Atkinson, even if he made a mistake in not booking, whistles the sacrosanct penalty. The Apache goes right on the spot, central shot and 2-1 Juve (58 '). The final half hour is almost perfect: Allegri goes to the 5-man defense (inside Barzagli for Sturaro) and the Spaniards, already in difficulty before, are no longer able to make themselves dangerous. In the final minutes there would even be room for a third goal but Llorente (who came on for Morata in the 77th minute) wasted two excellent chances. Thus it ends 2-1, an important victory which however leaves the qualification discussion very open.
“We can come back, but we will have to be patient – Carlo Ancelotti's bitter comment. – They waited for us, at a certain point we were in control but we were not very lucid and imprecise”. “The advantage is minimal – confirmed Gigi Buffon. – However, the team is growing, we are all talking about Europe”. In short, conviction and feet on the ground, the right mix to face the bedlam of the Bernabeu. Next Wednesday it will be a battle but with Real Madrid having to catch up. And this, given the premises, is already a victory.
