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Score: Real Madrid 1 - 3 Juventus AGGREGATE RMA 4 - 3 JUV
Goal 1: Mario Mandzukic 2', assist Sami Khedira
Goal 2: Mario Mandzukic 38', assist Stephan Lichsteiner
Goal 3: Blaise Matuidi 60', assist Keylor Navas - no seriously, the Costa Rican dropped it at the Frenchman's feet, two yards off his own goal-line
Goal 4: The winner. Cristiano Ronaldo 98' penalty - smashed it into the roof of the net under the most intense pressure any footballer has experienced all season
Juventus
GK: Gianluigi Buffon - 7/10 (sent off 92')
How is this man 40? They don't call him Superman for nothing, that's a 9/10 performance if ever there was any... that's what I was going to go with; till he lost his head and got a red card for shoving the ref and shouting in his face - the Champions League has ended so cruelly for the great man.
RB: Matteo De Sciglio - 5/10 (off 16th minute for Stephan Lichsteiner)
Limped out of the contest having started the do-or-die tie with great fervour... helped Douglas Costa isolate Marcelo down the Juve right flank, a task taken up ably by his replacement.
CB: Mehdi Benatia - 5/10
He was an 8-er all night long stopping Cristiano Ronaldo in his tracks, holding fort alongside Giorgio Chiellini with some astute positioning and strong tackling... but then he absolutely threw all of it away with a magnificently inane tackle from behind on Vazquez inside the 6-yard box. That gave the penalty, Ronaldo stepped up...
CB: Giorgio Chiellini - 7/10
The Italian was a rock at the back, a shady header out for a corner aside, he was rarely troubled in the way he was in the first leg and he barely deserved to end this game in tears; like the vast majority of his teammates.
LB: Alex Sandro - 7/10
The Brazilian was all-action, all-night long and he kept Gareth Bale in his back pocket all night long whilst constantly troubling Dani Carvajal at the other end.
CM: Sami Khedira - 8/10
The German was immense in midfield, running up-and-down the field, controlling the tempo with his incessant running, picking out Mario Mandzukic with a perfect pitch-wedge of a pass from the edge of the box.
CM: Miralem Pjanic - 8/10
Sitting deep, picking passes out at will, nullifying Isco's influence in his pet sphere of influence, the Bosnian was brilliant all night
CM: Blaise Matuidi - 9/10
How Paris Saint-Germain allowed Blaise Matuidi to leave for a million less than Leicester City bought Harry Maguire for is the greatest mystery of this season. Messrs Al Thani, this is what a real quality looks like. His goal was just reward for a sublime display of footballing intelligence and sheer technical quality.
RW: Douglas Costa - 7/10
The Brazilian absolutely tormented Marcelo down that Real Madrid left - and his searing pace and insulting directness was a key part of their attacking strateg
CF: Gonzalo Higuain - 4/10
Did he even play?
Jorge, take Mauro to Russia... please? For Leo's sake, my good man.
LW: Mario Mandzukic - 9/10
The Croat absolutely dominated Madrid in the air, scoring the two goals that changed the complexion of the game completely and he was so very good all night, running up and down in that converted role of his, sometimes pulling off a magic trick by appearing in both boxes at the same time.. got to feel for the man.
Substitutes
RB: Stephan Lichsteiner - 7/10 (on 16'')
The Swiss man was excellent moving forward all night, his cross into Mandzukic's forehead at the far post exemplifying this... while defensively he was sound, kept Marco Asensio reasonably quiet and did little wrong.
GK: Wojciech Szczęsny - N.A.
He expected to save the penalty. Haha.
GK: Keylor Navas - 4/10
Oh, Navas. Oh, Navas. The Costa Rican was decent for most of the match, pulling off some decent saves... but all of it went down the drain with a hopeless fumble; allowing the ball to bounce out of his hands and into the feet of Blaise Matuidi around 2 yards from his goalline.
RB: Dani Carvajal - 4/10
The Spaniard was totally, utterly, dominated by Mandzukic, the second goal a perfect exhibition of his frailties in defending the far post. Moving forward, he was far from his assured self, and gave away the ball with a few inane dribbles.
CB: Raphael Varane - 7/10
Varane stepped up in the absence of his senior partner and all-around soul of the team Sergio Ramos - his header off a corner smacking off the crossbar eerily reminiscent of Ramos - and whenever he managed to cover Mandzukic for a cross, he won the duel.
CB: Jesus Vallejo - 7/10
The young man was thrown into the deep end in the absence of Ramos and the injured 'Nacho' Fernandez and did splendidly well to stop tidal wave after wave of Juventus attacks.
LB: Marcelo - 5/10
The Brazilian was poor, a reflection of his early-season self, vulnerable to the searing pace of Douglas Costa and the overlapping runs of De Sciglio/Lichsteiner... and while he was more enterprising moving forward than his partner on the opposite flank, he still wasn't his usual effectual self.
CM: Luka Modric - 6/10 (off 75' for Mateo Kovacic)
The Croatian was imperious in bits, passing it around decently well - pinging some of his gorgeous balls through the crowded-as-hell midfield but he loses points because of just how good the Juve three were, and how much they dominated the game.
CM: Casemiro - 4/10 (off 45' for Lucas Vazquez)
Could do little to stem the physical dominance of Khedira and Matuidi in midfield and his replacement spoke of Zidane's desire to take the game away from the middle of the field.
CM: Toni Kroos - 7/10
Give Toni one chance... the German's peach allowed Ronaldo to head it down to Vazquez... and his metronomic passing was a sight to behold; despite the rising pressure inside the cauldron of the Bernabeu he barely looked like he was breaking a sweat and that calmness helped in those final, frantic, manic few minutes
CAM: Isco - 6/10
Isco Disco-ed for a bit then disappeared for a bit... it was a weird performance from one of the most talented footballers on the planet who looked gorgeous and incompetent at different times.
CF: Gareth Bale - 3/10 (off 45' for Marco Asensio)
The Welshman had one chance - which he saw saved by Gigi Buffon - and he then proceeded to smack the rebound into the side netting (on the outside) with an imaginative backheel. That and a lovely crossfield to Ronaldo is all I remember from the man whose career has petered out so sadly at the Bernabeu
CF: Cristiano Ronaldo - 10/10
THIS IS HIS COMPETITION. END OF.
Subs:
RM: Lucas Vazquez - 8/10 (for Casemiro, on 45')
The injection of pace and pressure that Vazquez brought to the pitch was vital in ensuring that Madrid did not get overrun in the second half - a very real prospect at the end of the first half. He, of course, did brilliantly to win the penalty of Benatia - in fact, if the Moroccan hadn't brought him down, he'd probably have smashed in the winner
LM: Marco Asensio - 7/10 (for Gareth Bale, on 45')
The introduction of Asensio helped Marcelo by making sure the Lichsteiner had other things to worry about than linking up with Costa up front... and just for that he deserves all these points I'm lavishing on him
CM: Mateo Kovacic - 6/10 (for Luka Modric, on 75')
Did nothing of note... but didn't do much to screw things up either. Good sub, then.
