Juve, Milan forge draw
It was odd and difficult at the start, playing in an empty stadium after 90 days away
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Juventus reached the Italian Cup final on after a goalless draw with 10-man AC Milan in the semifinal, second leg in Turin on the day football returned to Italy after three months away.
Serie A champions Juve advanced on away goals to final in Rome, thanks to February’s 1-1 first-leg draw at the San Siro, despite an under-par display against a Milan side, which played 74 minutes with a man less and which featured a missed Cristiano Ronaldo penalty.
At the Stadio Olimpico, Maurizio Sarri’s side will face either Napoli or Inter Milan, the last side Juve faced before football entered into its coronavirus-enforced hiatus in March.
Napoli takes on Antonio Conte’s Inter at Naples’ Stadio San Paolo on Saturday with a 1-0 lead from the first leg in another match set for an eerie atmosphere without supporters.
“It was odd and difficult at the start, playing in an empty stadium after 90 days away,” said Leonardo Bonucci to public broadcaster RAI 1.
“We’ve shaken off a dark moment for the whole world. I hope being back will offer the fans at home a bit of hope and joy. We want to give them something more on Wednesday.”
A feisty start belied the two teams’ long absence from the pitch, with Juve — missing the likes of Giorgio Chiellini and Gonzalo Higuain — roaring out of the blocks and Milan putting in some questionable challenges to try to stop themselves from being overrun.
Juve should have been ahead in with just 15 minutes on the clock when Andrea Conti clipped the ball in the penalty area with his elbow and conceded a penalty after a VAR check.
Ronaldo hit the woodwork with the resulting spot-kick, but while that should have been a reprieve for the away side, they found themselves a man down seconds later when Ante Rebic kicked Danilo in the head.
With Zlatan Ibrahimovic out injured and Samu Castillejo suspended, Stefano Pioli’s side were missing some firepower going forward, but managed to create problems for Juve despite spending most of the match on the back foot.