Juventus’ Alvaro Morata, left, scores a goal during the Champions League second leg semifinal soccer match between Real Madrid and Juventus
Juventus came back from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Real Madrid yesterday and line up a Champions League final against Barcelona with a 3-2 victory on aggregate.
Former Madrid striker Alvaro Morata scored the priceless equalizer for Juventus against his old club in the 57th minute at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Madrid was trailing 2-1 after last week’s first leg in Turin and the defending champions looked to have turned the contest around in the 23rd minute when Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty to give his side a 1-0 lead.
But Morata’s goal from close range meant there will be no all-Spanish final in Berlin on June 6, and Juventus gets a chance to life the trophy for a third time.
“This doesn’t end here,” Morata said. “We want to create history.”
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri paid tribute to his match-winner and the rest of the team.
“Alvaro has grown physically, mentally and tactically,” he said. “I’m proud, this is an extraordinary squad. They’ve outdone themselves.”
For Madrid, the pursuit of an 11th European Cup title ended at its own stadium after an impressive run of form.
“It’s hard,” Madrid defender Sergio Ramos said. “The team fought but we have to say goodbye. We thought we had done enough with the goal, but we let it slip and paid the price. Their goal hit our team’s morale hard.”
Madrid began attacking right from the start, with Gareth Bale heading over the crossbar of Gianluigi Buffon’s goal from a Marcelo assist in the very first minute and Karim Benzema failing to find the target five minutes later. Benzema was picked for the sole striker position even though the France international only recently began full training with the rest of the squad following an injury.
Ronaldo fared no better minutes later with a dipping free kick that Buffon tipped over the bar.
Although Madrid was enjoying plenty of possession, its midfielders found it difficult to threaten a composed Juventus defense. Harold Heckle, Madrid, AP
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