Local boy makes good. Not that they will be celebrating it in Madrid. Alvaro Morata didn’t celebrate his moment of glory, either. Maybe he wants to come back here and live one day.
Morata was the one they let go. The kid from the youth team who couldn’t quite cut it among the ranks of the beautiful people. He got as far as last year’s Champions League final, playing 10 minutes as a substitute for Karim Benzema, but no further. Real Madrid sold him to Juventus in the summer — and he returned to scold them in the most hurtful way possible. He knocked them out of the Champions League. At their place; 33 minutes short of the final.
There will be no el clasico in Berlin. Barcelona await but Juventus were worthy winners over two legs. They got a vital victory at home, and a vital goal away. Real Madrid are left ruing mistakes — some on the night, such as the chances missed by Gareth Bale, others in the planning department, such as not addressing the decline of goalkeeper Iker Casillas sooner. He had two chances to stop the equalising goal and failed both times.
The first mistake was punching out a high ball when he could, perhaps, have gathered. From there it was recycled, pumped in and headed across goal by Paul Pogba, putting in a heroic shift, half-fit and tiring, on his return from injury. He rose above Sergio Ramos, and the loose ball fell to Morata.
Scorer of Juve’s first in the home leg, here was an even bigger opportunity for retribution — and it is fair to say he rose to the occasion. Chesting the ball down, he struck his shot into the turf, skidding up and over Casillas, who got something on it but not enough. There was power in the shot but it was straight at him really.
One imagines David de Gea would have fancied his chances; Hugo Lloris, too. Morata did the respectful non-celebration — although how about respecting the folks who have travelled from Turin — and his team-mates clung to their draw.
What should have been a historic occasion for Madrid ended in crushing disappointment. Champions of Europe last season, they are still living off that success. Their only triumphs this season have been spin-offs from the last — the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup. That doesn’t keep managers in employment around these parts.
Before the game, the fans unfurled a reminder of a glorious past: a giant banner depicting the hero of those early European Cup triumphs, Alfredo di Stefano. Maybe one day they will do the same for Cristiano Ronaldo. It was Di Stefano’s record he equalled, with his 307th goal for the club, scored from the penalty spot to give Madrid a first-half lead.
James Rodriguez’s fall looked soft — and his case wasn’t helped by the fact he was booked for diving soon after — but there was a definite foul by Giorgio Chiellini and referee Jonas Eriksson was right to point to the spot. Ronaldo stepped up, took his usual sideways step and found the back of the net. He now has 10 goals in Champions League semi-finals, twice as many as the next highest scorer. Records like that are the reason they love him here.
Yet if that confidence was the best of Ronaldo, the final whistle brought the worst. He flounced from the field, leaving behind 10 desolate team-mates, as if he somehow felt the hurt of defeat more keenly. It was nonsense, of course. Ronaldo (below) pretty much disappeared in the final 30 minutes of the game when the best of Madrid’s chances fell to Bale. Sadly, they may have succeeded only in adding to his woes.
Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett cannot argue that the rest of the team did not pass to his man in the second half. Time and again they picked him out in the desperate search for a winner, time and again he made them rue that choice.
In the first half he was starved of the ball, but did well with what little he did see; in the second he saw plenty, but to no effect. He missed chances — several very good ones — and ran the ball out of play to general derision. There were whistles, and some boos. It is pointless pretending that this season may not bring change.
One cannot imagine coach Carlo Ancelotti remaining, after falling short in La Liga, too, and he is Bale’s biggest champion. The player could have been the hero, but instead gave his critics further ammunition. Had one of his chances gone in, the tie would have gone to extra-time. Had two made it, he would have been the match- winner. But none? He may have to read the local newspapers through his fingers again.
Full credit to Bale for getting into scoring positions. It was more than Ronaldo did at a crucial stage in the game. Frustratingly for all those who feel he has had a raw deal this season, he could not make his presence felt.
Just five minutes after Juventus’s equaliser, he met a Marcelo cross at the near post with a volley which flew wide. Next was a header from a lovely cross by Ronaldo, who took a team-mate’s error well, as usual, and then another header from a corner. He tried a shot from range after that but it truly wasn’t his night. At least two of those should have found the target and by the time he overran a ball cutting into the penalty area, the jeers had begun. He won’t get another chance to win the crowd over before next season and that is one long, hot summer.
Sometimes, looking at what Bale brings to Real Madrid’s attack, it is hard to understand why his team-mates do not use him more. He would certainly be less anxious if he was involved regularly. In the first half only Casillas had fewer touches for Madrid — yet Bale’s brief involvements were invariably positive.
A ferocious tackle in the right-back position, a cracking diagonal pass from deep to set up a chance for Ronaldo, a fierce shot from 30 yards that forced an excellent save from Gianluigi Buffon. It made one wonder what he could achieve if he had more touches than Sergio Ramos at centre half.
Bale got Madrid’s ball rolling after just 37 seconds with a header from a Marcelo cross and the first half was dominated by Madrid attacks, even after Ronaldo’s penalty had given them an aggregate lead on away goals. Karim Benzema had several chances, so too Ronaldo, and Isco struck a lovely chip that travelled just wide.
Yet the sight of Juventus out early in the second half, waiting in formation for Madrid to emerge, spoke of a team that was ready for business. Certainly, coach Massimiliano Allegri is too smart to attempt to play Barcelona at their own game on June 6.
It should be an intriguing encounter for Luis Suarez, too, up against two figures from his notorious past, Patrice Evra and Chiellini. He’s a changed man these days, of course — but considering the shortcomings of Italian club football of late, Juventus are much changed, too.
