The Old Lady of Turin travels to Berlin!

Juventus defeat Real Madrid 3-2 on aggregate to book final with Barcelona.

KARACHI:

‘It had to be Morata!’ stated the headline of Spanish sports magazine AS. It had to be him — the former Real Madrid academy player, who was allowed to leave at the end of last season, came back to haunt his club by scoring the winner, taking Juventus into the final for the first time in 12 years. It couldn’t have been anyone else.   

Massimiliano Allegri’s men, already leading 2-1 from the first leg in Turin, had only to hold on for the draw and progress to the final.  However, Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty in the 23rd minute changed the dynamics of the game entirely. Juve now needed an away goal and Real needed to hold on to their 1-0 advantage — courtesy of Ronaldo’s headed equaliser in Turin last week.



But despite a crackling Bernabeu, it wasn’t to be Real’s night. The crowd was stunned when their team failed to clear Andrea Pirlo’s free-kick and Morata was on hand to fire home from Paul Pogba’s header to get the Old Lady back in front on aggregate.

‘We’re going to Berlin! We’re going to Berlin!’ rang the Bernabeu as the 5,000 Juventus supporters greeted Morata’s goal.

And that was to be the end for the home team. The 10-time European champions had no reply to the well-drilled and highly disclipined Juve defence and even though Gareth Bale came extremely close to making it 2-1 and taking the game to extra time, he missed a string of chances as the Bernabeu booed away the player who had guided them to the hallowed La Decima last season.

Allegri’s tactical genius trumps Ancelotti’s

After his failed Sergio-Ramos-in-midfield experiment in the first leg and the much-awaited return of Karim Benzema from injury, Real coach Carlo Ancelotti opted to go with the more traditional 4-3-3 formation to allow his side to attack from the word go.



With Toni Kroos, James Rodriguez and Isco in midfield and Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale up front, the strategy was poised to work for Real — if nothing else, there were goals in the side. This tactic, however, failed to address the issue of Arturo Vidal, one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the world, and Claudio Marchisio; both of whom made life hell for their opponents, refusing to allow Los Merengues any possession in the centre of the park.

“The coach prepared these two games to perfection,” said Juve striker Carlos Tevez after the game. “He always gives all the credit to us, but a lot of it is also his.”

His words highlighted the tactical prowess of the 47-year-old and it was this well-balanced approach of Allegri’s that allowed Juve to defend as a team and pose an attacking threat on the counter.

Juve mark a new era in Europe’s elite

The “Calciopoli” scandal in 2006 had sent Juventus hurtling into Serie B, leading to an exodus of several important players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paolo Cannavaro.



However, the Old Lady have recovered well, bagging their fourth consecutive title with four games to go this season, and finding themselves in contention for their third Champions League triumph.

It can be said what many pundits claim as ‘destiny’ that Juve progressed to the final at the same arena in Berlin, the Olympiastadion, where four players — Pirlo, Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini — lifted the World Cup in 2006.



This season has been quite a fairytale for the Italian giants, who are eyeing a treble, and should they go on to win against Barcelona on June 6 in Berlin, a new era for Italian football will begin. Needless to say, the Italians have returned to the echelons of Europe. They certainly had been missed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th,  2015.

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