Ronaldo sinks Juventus in first leg
Cristiano Ronaldo was the star of the show as Real Madrid defeated Juventus 3-0 away from home. The Portuguese forward scored two goals and turned provider to Marcelo’s goal against 10 men Juventus. The defending champions are now looking more like a hungry team ready to defend their title after seeing some poor performances on the domestic front in the early parts of this season. They dispatched Paris Saint-Germain in the last round and have already put one foot into the semifinals with a convincing win on Tuesday night. As FirstTouch Football, we divided the match into 5 talking points.
Luka Modric’s performances – The Croatian midfielder did not have the best of games against the Old Ladies. He was at fault for many counter-attacks by Juventus because of his careless passes. It was not Modric’s night as the player looked tired until he was replaced on the 81st minute by Kovacic. Much respect should be given to Zidane for playing Isco in the match otherwise it would have been shambles in midfield had Modric not gotten an extra player to help him in midfield. His performance was typified by his last kick of the match when he missed a chance in acres of spaces from a Marco Asensio cross. We hope this does not mark the decline of an ageing player who has been crucial to Madrid’s dominance in Europe for the past 2 years.
Ramos to miss second leg – Real Madrid Captain Sergio Ramos picked up a yellow card in the match after fouling Paulo Dybala and was given a yellow card for the second time running which means that he will miss the second leg of the clash with suspension.
Ronaldo – a clinical finish in the 3rd minute gave an early lead to Madrid who were playing unconvincing football. He later on scored an overhead kick for his second which gave Madrid a two goal cushion. Do you, if ever, recall Ronaldo scoring a beauty like this one before?
Red card – Paulo Dybala picked up a second yellow card for a stupid foul on the 64th minute and was given his marching orders. This killed the morale of the team who were fighting even with two goals down. The red card gave advantage to Real Madrid who scored the third goal through Marcelo who finished off Ronaldo’s defense splitting pass.
End of match – a 3-0 result has all but confirmed Madrid’s qualification into the next round unless Juventus provide a miracle and win with a 4-goal advantage which is looking unlikely.
