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It was a dramatic finish at the Santiago Bernebau in the second leg of the quarter-final clash and in spite of losing 3-1 on the night, Real Madrid went through to the final four, beating Juventus 4-3 on aggregate. The Bianconeri got off to a dream start when Mario Mandzukic headed the ball in only the second minute to make it 3-1 on aggregate.
And it was Mandzukic again to double the lead in the 37th minute, heading the ball in despite Keylor Navas getting a hand on it to give the Italian Champions a 2-0 lead at the break.
Juventus looked to have been inspired by AS Roma's comeback against Barcelona and they equalized the score on aggregate when Blaise Matuidi capitalized on a Keylor Navas error to send the Santiago Bernebau faithful in total shock.
However, a last minute penalty awarded by the referee ruined the whole game as Mehdi Benatia brought down Lucas Vazquez. Gianluigi Buffon was sent off for confronting the official about the decision while Cristiano Ronaldo tucked away his penalty in the sixth minute of stoppage time to send the Los Blancos through to another semi-final.
Here's what went right for Juventus in the second leg:
#3 Setting the platform for a comeback in the first half
Juventus couldn't have asked for a better start when they broke the deadlock in under two minutes. A Sami Khedira cross found Mario Mandzukic on the far post and the Croatian had no problems in heading it into the back of the net to give the Bianconeri hope.
Despite being on the receiving end of numerous Real Madrid attacks, the Italians were well organized defensively. A Stephan Litchsteiner cross found Mandzukic at the far post and the Juve forward delivered once again with his head to make it 2-3 on aggregate, setting the tone for his team to stage an upset in the second half.
#2 Defensive Stability
Unlike their first leg performance in Turin, Juventus put in a totally opposite defensive performance in the second leg. This was due to the fact that Mehdi Benatia replaced Andrea Barzagli meaning that there was more pace in defence to compete with the attacking force of Real Madrid.
The return of Miralem Pjanic also benefitted significantly as his composure and passing in midfield was very influential. Giorgio Chiellini commanded his back line excellently, keeping his team in shape and communicating with his players.
Chiellini put in three interceptions, eight clearances and making an excellent judgment of a Marco Asensio cross, heading the ball over the crossbar while Cristiano Ronaldo was lurking behind him. The fullbacks Alex Sandro and Stephan Litchsteiner made a combined four tackles and six clearances.
Along with the midfielders, even the attackers of Juventus put in a great effort tracking with each of them making one significant contribution each defensively in giving the Italian Giants a 3-1 second leg win.
#1 Exploiting Ramos'Absence
Sergio Ramos was suspended due to a yellow card he picked up in the first leg. His absence from the starting lineup benefitted Juventus majorly as Zinedine Zidane was forced to play the rookie Jesus Vallejo.
This was evident from the first whistle itself when Mario Mandzukic scored early on from a header to give Juventus the lead with the second goal also coming off the head of Mandzukic to make it 3-2 on aggregate in favour of Real Madrid.
Douglas Costa was one of the standout players for the Italian Champions as he was causing trouble for the Madrid back four on the right wing and putting in the crosses. Not only him but the entire Juve team were taking advantage of the absence of Ramos from central defence.
Massimiliano Allegri's tactics of applying the aerial route in the form of crosses and long balls proved to be spot on as it did help his side in getting the three goals. The third goal was the result of a Keylor Navas mistake as he spilt the ball out of his hands from an attempted Costa long ball which was pounced on by Blaise Matuidi to level it on the aggregate scoreline.
Here's what went wrong for Juventus:
#1 Benatia's error and Buffon's sending off
Real Madrid and Juventus were poised to be heading into extra time until the last minute of stoppage time. A Cristiano Ronaldo pass was received by Lucas Vazquez six yards from goal but he couldn't get a shot away.
The Spaniard was brought down from behind by Mehdi Benatia which convinced the referee in awarding a penalty to Madrid. There was contact between the two players as Benatia did use his leg across the body of Vazquez.
However, this rightly enraged the Juventus players as they went to confront the referee with captain Gianluigi Buffon being the first of them. The official Michael Olivier decided to give Buffon a straight red card for shoving him and the Bianconeri were forced to make a last minute substitution bringing in Wojciech Szczesny for their captain.
After a lot of debate and drama, the resulting spot kick was converted by Ronaldo to give his team the win on aggregate and send them through to the final four. After the scenes that transpired at the end, it would be safe to make a statement that Juventus did get robbed while Buffon potentially could have played his last game in the Champions League.
