A SECOND-HALF penalty from Carlos Tevez gave Juventus the winning edge in a bruising encounter in Turin last night.
The former Manchester City striker earned the 58th-minute spot-kick with a barnstorming solo run after Cristiano Ronaldo, with his 76th Champions League goal, had cancelled out former Real forward Alvaro Morata’s early opener.
Fresh from clinching their fourth successive Serie A crown, the hosts were without injured midfielder Paul Pogba, while Real gave a start to fit-again Gareth Bale as they looked to end a run of seven trips to Italy without a win.
What many had tipped to be a cagey affair began with a flurry. Chilean Arturo Vidal was put through on goal for Juve but could not get a shot away, while Real won two free-kicks in dangerous positions inside the first five minutes but failed to capitalise.
It took only nine minutes for a goal to arrive, when Tevez found a gaping hole in the Real defence and fired from just inside the area. Goalkeeper Iker Casillas could only palm the ball out and Morata had the simplest of tap-ins.
Juve – unbeaten at home in European competition this season – were intent on pressing high up the pitch, with Tevez in particular looking dangerous whenever the hosts forced a turnover.
The tactic did occasionally expose their defence, however, and Ronaldo should have punished Juve in the 23rd minute.
But there was no mistake minutes later, when James Rodriguez clipped a ball across the face of goal for the unmarked Ronaldo to head in from two yards out for his ninth goal in 11 games.
Four minutes before the break, Marcelo put Isco through on the left but, from the cross, a diving James could only head on to the bar.
After the break, Tevez produced a brilliant run to take the ball from his own half to the Real penalty area, where he was felled by Dani Carvajal. The Argentinian dusted himself off and hammered the penalty straight down the middle as Casillas dived to the right
English referee Martin Atkinson did well to show only seven yellow cards as tempers frayed and Real chased an equaliser – but it was Juve’s Fernando Llorente who came closest to scoring late on with a header that was blocked by Casillas.
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