Juventus dismantled Monaco in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final. The Old Lady won the match 2-1( Aggregate 4-1). They now head to the finals of the competition and await the winners of the second semi-final.
Juventus showed some tactical brilliance as they capped off another superb performance on the European stage. Juve got their first goal of the match after Mario Mandzukic squeezed the ball into the back of the net. The goal meant that any chance of a fightback from Monaco was quickly written off. With the goal, Juventus virtually killed off the tie. And Monaco were left to do the impossible. Score three goals past a Juventus defense.
Juventus added another goal to their tally after Dani Alves shot a thumping volley from 25 yards away. The ball dipped and swerved into the goal. Alves who has been instrumental for Juve in both the legs capped his fine performance with an equally brilliant goal.
Monaco did manage to get a goal back in the 69th minute of the match. Young prodigy Kylian Mbappe scored through a low cross from Joao Moutinho. But by then it was all too late for them.
‘Dani’licious:
Dani Alves joined Juventus from Barcelona as a free transfer. And it has got to be one of the buys of the season as far as Juve are concerned. Dani Alves has been instrumental in both the legs as he had an active involvement in all the four goals that Juventus scored.
Alves assisted both the Higuain goals in the first leg of the match and also assisted Mandzukic’s goal in the second leg. He scored the fourth goal himself with an absolutely delicious volley.
Alves left Barcelona amidst a lot of turmoil last summer. And while everyone thought that he was past his heydeys, Juventus still saw his potential and value and signed him up. Since arriving in Turin, Alves has gone on to become one of the key players in the Juventus side.
The best defense in the world?
Juventus boasts of a defensive record that might put any top division team to shame. You look at their defensive stats and you might have the feeling that they are from a totally different planet.
No team has managed to score more than a single goal against them in this year’s Champions League campaign. And this is purely down to their superb defensive line.
Their defense has been of top draw all throughout the season and they proved it once again versus Monaco. Chiellini made a series of top class clearances and blocks as he denied Monaco two straight forward chances at goal.
Juventus had gone a staggering 688 minutes without conceding a goal in the UCL and Mbappe’s goal was the first they conceded in the knockout stages of the competition.
The likes of Chiellini, Bonnuci have been rock solid in defense and leading the charge for them is obviously Gianluigi Buffon. During the match he made a brilliant reflex save from a close range Falcao shot even though it was adjudged offside. But the kind of agility he showed while making the save would have made any young goalkeeper envy of his talents.
Juventus are now in the finals of the UEFA Champions League will they will play the winners of the game between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
