Juventus put the squeeze on Monaco to end semi-final drought

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/22/monaco-juventus-champions-league-match-report

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Those from Barcelona to Bayern Munich via Madrid will not be quaking in their boots just yet, but the Bianconeri are back where they believe they belong. A first Champions League semi-final in 12 years awaits, Massimiliano Allegri having succeeded in his first campaign in charge where Antonio Conte and Fabio Capello had failed, with the players’ celebrations in front of their joyous and vociferous support at the final whistle a reflection of collective relief.

This was not necessarily the performance of an elite contender, but history will register it as having been effective. Juventus had laboured to snuff out the threat posed by AS Monaco for over an hour, their own attacking ambitions severely limited in response, but they were not wounded when at their most vulnerable and ultimately eased through the last quarter with the authority of a side who would not be beaten. The locals rather ran aground on the three-man back line of Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Barzaglia and Leonardo Bonucci with Gianluigi Buffon a reassuring presence at their back. “We’re through and must keep dreaming,” said Bonucci. “Now is where it starts to get exciting.”

Different tests await, and a celebrated back line that has now kept nine clean sheets in 10 matches will have to remain watertight if progress is to be forced to Berlin in June. Back when Geoffrey Kondogbia was stamping authority all over midfield, even eclipsing Andrea Pirlo for a while, that Juve rearguard had felt diminished. Even panicked. Yet, by the end, they might have been conducting a masterclass in defensive surety. The frantic finale upon which Monaco had pinned their lingering hopes failed to materialise, the closest this second leg came to producing a goal actually an outrageous free-kick struck by Pirlo from distance late on which whipped and dipped to clip the angle of post and bar.

In truth, given the home side’s toils in front of goal all season, there was an inevitability about it all even if Juve could point to untimely illness as having limited their ambitions. This was a team struck down by a virus on the eve of the contest, the bug having spread from Arturo Vidal – who scored the only goal of the tie in Turin but had been laid low over the weekend – to Carlos Tevez and Alvaro Morata. The former was industrious rather than incisive, the latter vomiting upon his return to the bench having been substituted midway through the second period. “Tevez was being sick just an hour before the game, while Pirlo has hardly played since his injury, so I knew we would suffer,” said Allegri. “We needed to be courageous, tenacious, and that’s what has got us through the tie in the end. There will be times when we will be able to play more expansively, as we can, but tonight we had a job to do. We are back in the semi-finals, and we’ve taken a big step to show we’re a stronger club again.”

Their progress will feel cathartic given the traumas endured by Juve since they graced their last final, in Manchester back in 2003. These days they are running away with Serie A, 15 points clear at the top, and have an Italian Cup final against Lazio ahead. This had been more a test of their resilience but, even when stretched at times, they had still emerged unscathed. Chiellini had been unsettled in the game’s opening exchanges, the centre-half booked for pawing the ball away from João Moutinho when grounded inside the first minute, and might have conceded a penalty when he and Vidal sandwiched Kondogbia as he barged into the area.

Leonardo Jardim bemoaned that non-award by the Scottish official Willie Collum, suggesting acknowledgement of a foul might also have prompted a red card, though his side’s opportunities were only ever half-chances. Monaco have lacked bite in front of goal all season, left to crave a Radamel Falcao pre-cruciate damage from afar. That lack of attacking presence, even with Dimitar Berbatov thrust on at the interval, eventually caught up with them.

Bernardo Silva proved pesky down Monaco’s right flank for a while, combining slickly with Jeremy Toulalan and Moutinho to reach the byline as Chiellini stumbled, with Barzagli instinctively deflecting the pull-back behind. Patrice Evra did likewise after the interval as Aymen Abdennour threatened to prod home from Moutinho’s dangerous delivery, but that was as close as the hosts came to drawing level in the tie.

Indeed, the sight of Kondogbia and Andrea Raggi swapping shirts with Pirlo and Carlos Tevez at the interval had been unwelcome, suggesting reverence where they should have been seeking to unsettle their visitors. Certainly the manner in which their challenge rather petered out late on hinted at self-doubt as at least half of those crammed into this arena hollered for Italian progress. The visiting players celebrated with gusto at the final whistle. “This was a very ‘Italian’ performance: solid, defensive, sound,” said Evra. “It was important for us.” Serie A has its first semi-finalist since 2010. The Bianconeri are back.