It was once again the night of the biggest club competition on this planet and two of the best clubs in Europe came head to head in the pursuit of glory. Real Madrid, the current holders of the UEFA Champions League trophy, came up against their opponents from the final last year, in the form of Italian giants Juventus.
While the Galacticos of Madrid were looking to board the plane back to Spain with an advantage from the away leg played at the Juventus Stadium, the Bianconeri were in no mood to let them walk away with an easy win and all 3 points.
Los Blancos opened the scoring with an opportunistic strike from Cristiano Ronaldo, as he pounced onto a well-timed pass into the box from Isco and slotted it past Gianluigi Buffon to give his team the lead very early in the first half.
However, as the game progressed, Juventus looked to retaliate and were in with a few good chances that fell to the likes of Giorgio Chiellini and Paulo Dybala, but the Real Madrid defenders and goalkeeper held their ground to see off the danger. Keylor Navas pulled off an unimaginable save to prevent former Galactico Gonzalo Higuain from putting his name on the scoresheet, or else the story, who knows, could have been different.
In the second half, Ronaldo once again jumped into the act and scored possibly the goal of the season with an acrobatic overhead kick from a cross off Dani Carvajal after a thumping shot from Lucas Vazquez was parried away by Buffon. The 33-year-old talisman then turned provider as his deft pass found Marcelo, who galloped forward from the left back position to place it in the net over a visibly disappointed Buffon.
The chances of a comeback for Juventus were decimated when Paulo Dybala saw his second yellow card of the match and was sent off for an early shower in the 66th minute.
The scoreline remained the same till the end, as Ronaldo and Co. sealed a very important away win, which almost ensures a place for them in the Semi-finals of the coveted competition. All eyes will now be on Santiago Bernabeu on the 12th of April to see if the Bianconeri can accomplish the impossible and make it a win against the in-form Galacticos.
Here are the player ratings for Real Madrid from their win over Juventus.
Keylor Navas: 8/10
Denied Higuain twice from what looked to be two certain goals. Was in top form, to say the least.
Dani Carvajal: 7/10
Galloped forward from time to time and provided a number of telling balls into the opposition box, including the one that helped Ronaldo score the spectacular second goal of the night.
Raphael Varane: 7/10
Looked pretty solid and kept his goal out of harm’s way.
Sergio Ramos: 8/10
El Capitano looked at his absolute prime, as he got into tussles and made clearances with flaring accuracy, helping Keylor Navas immensely in keeping a clean sheet. Picked up a yellow card in the act to miss the next leg.
Marcelo: 7/10
Looked sharp as usual whenever on the ball. Galloped forward to seal the match for his side with a cool finish.
Casemiro: 7/10
Kept the ball under control, made tackles and provided the side with an extra defensive edge.
Luka Modric: 7/10
Looked sublime with the passing as the Croatian found the right players at the right place with the right ball.
Toni Kroos: 8/10
Created lot of space in the midfield with his swift runs into the opposition half and kept the ball rolling. Rattled the crossbar with a thunderous strike in the first half.
Isco: 7/10
Looked to be gradually growing in confidence since his ominous display against Argentina. Opened up the Juventus defence with his pinpoint passes a few times, which resulted in Ronaldo scoring his first goal very early.
Karim Benzema: 6/10
Looks to have settled in the second striker role and made a few good runs into the attacking third as well. However, goals continue to elude him.
Cristiano Ronaldo: 9/10
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Splendid performance on the night, as he ensures a place in the top four for Real Madrid with two crucial goals, once again. Could have completed his hat-trick if not missed a chance at the very end of the match.
Substitutes
Lucas Vazquez: 8/10
Looking to get matured with every passing game. Played an important role in a crucial victory.
Marco Asensio: 6/10
Did not look at his free-flowing best but was good enough to bamboozle the Juventus defence.
Kovacic: 6/10
Looked decent as he came on for Modric. Picked up an unnecessary booking though.
