Juventus ease into Champions League final
Juventus have booked their place in the final of the Champions League courtesy of a 4-1 aggregate victory over AS Monaco.
The Italian giants went into tonight’s second leg with a 2-0 advantage following their impressive victory in Monaco last week, and first-half goals from Mario Mandzukic and Dani Alves put the tie well and truly beyond the Ligue 1 leaders.
Kylian Mbappe pulled one goal back to end Juventus’s run of six consecutive clean sheets in the competition, but it was far too little too late as the hosts cruised into the final, where they will face either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid.
It didn’t seem to affect the visitors in the opening exchanges as they made the brighter start to the match, and Mbappe sent a shot dribbling agonisingly against the inside of the post after less than five minutes - although the flag was raised for a marginal offside.
It represented an uncharacteristically shaky start from Juve, though, and Monaco continued to push for an early goal to give themselves a glimmer of hope, with Radamel Falcao hammering an ambitious long-range effort over the bar shortly afterwards.
Massimiliano Allegri’s mood would not have been improved by having to make an early sub after Sami Khedira picked up a hamstring injury, but the introduction of Claudio Marchisio seemed to allow the hosts to settle into the match and they soon began to take control.
Gonzalo Higuain had the first clear chance for Juve as he looked to build on his brace from the first leg, but he didn’t put enough on his chipped finish and Kamil Glik was able to get back and hook the ball away.
That was only the beginning of Juventus’s dominance, though, and they began to look dangerous every time they came forward, with Danijel Subasic needing to make a fine save to deny Mandzukic one on one moments later.
Miralem Pjanic was the next to break through the Monaco defence when he played a one-two with Paulo Dybala, but Andrea Raggi denied the Argentine with a timely last-ditch block.
Monaco did test Gianluigi Buffon through a sharp effort from Falcao on the half-hour mark, but Juventus were still on top and took a fully deserved lead shortly afterwards when Mandzukic finished off a swift counter-attack.
Alves, who assisted both goals in the first leg, once again delivered the telling ball to pick out Mandzukic at the back post, and the Croatian striker saw his initial header saved by Subasic before turning the rebound home from close range.
That left Monaco needing three goals against a team who, at that point, had conceded just two in the competition all season, but Juventus refused to sit back on their lead and continued to create chances almost at will, with Higuain testing Subasic.