Even before Alvaro Morata hit the back of the net in the 57th minute against his former employers on his old stomping ground, the writing was already on the wall for Real Madrid. Yes, Los Blancos may indeed have spent millions of dollars on some of the best players in the world, but ultimately, they were totally undone by a resilient Juventus side that drew inspiration from the heroes they had playing for themselves on the night.
Majestic performances from Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon, two players who are surely past their prime ensured that the Italians progressed to the final while leaving some of the biggest names in the world of sport such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale all eating their dust.
Gianluigi Buffon celebrates after helping his side secure a place in the Finals of the UEFA Champions League
The manner in which Juventus made it to the Champions League final is truly remarkable and also totally unexpected. I for one can honestly say that I did not expect to see them anywhere close to the tournament’s latter stages, let alone the final. Even when they beat Real at the Juventus Stadium in the first leg of the Semi-Finals, I clearly remember that I had written a piece confidently stating how I expected Real to comfortably beat them in the return leg at the Bernabeu.
Forget about my two cents on the matter, most football fans were saying exactly what I said. This simple fact that no one expected them to get past Real only goes to underline exactly how big an achievement this is for the Old Lady. Massimilliano Allegri and his boys deserve a lot of credit for making it to the Champions League final without spending a boat load of money on star players. Just take a moment to compare the cost of the Real starting eleven with the cost Juve’s starting eleven. Cristiano Ronaldo and his fellow superstars cost Real around 350 million Pounds while the Juve team took only 90 million Pounds to assemble. This kind of feat, in these days is totally unthinkable.
The Real players can only look on as Morata got the much needed away goal for the Italians
Italian teams are not known to be free spending like their English or Spanish counterparts and this may indeed be a big reason behind their recent downfall. The last time an Italian side made it to the Champions League final was in 2010 when Jose Mourinho guided Inter Milan to the much coveted trophy and the last time Juventus themselves came this close to the Champions League trophy was in 2003 when they lost the all Italian final to A.C. Milan on penalties.
Those days seem to be ages ago and this current resurgence that Juventus are undergoing is surely one that was much needed by not only the club themselves, but also by the Serie A for a very long time. If indeed Juve are to beat Barcelona and get their hands on their third Champions League trophy, then it will provide the entire Italian league and football in the county itself a much need boost.
