Real Madrid 1-3 Juventus: 5 Talking Points
Scoreline: Real Madrid 1-3 Juventus Mandzukic 2' 37' Blaise Matuidi 60' Ronaldo 96'
A UEFA Champions League quarter-final of epic proportions. 90 minutes of spine-chilling, high octane football which culminated in the greatest footballer of this generation keeping his head and blasting an unstoppable penalty to the top corner to rain over the dreams of Massimiliano Allegri and co. in a breathless, absolutely riveting encounter that was in tune with the kind of exhilarating action we have encountered through the entirety of the round of 16 in the Champions League.
Juventus absolutely took the game to Real Madrid and hit them as early as the 2nd minute as Mandzukic headed one home to get the visiting home off to a dream start. He followed it up with an identical one half an hour later. When Blaise Matuidi tapped in to an unguarded goal from a yard out, Real Madrid truly looked set to crash out of the tournament that had become their cake.
There was plenty to talk about and there is no point in wasting time beating around the bush, so let's get right to it.
#5 Juventus come out swinging and nearly knock Real Madrid out of conscience
Before we get to swinging praises of Ronaldo, let's take a moment and appreciate Juventus for being absolute ballers and playing at the Bernabeu like it was their own backyard.
Introducing Mario Mandzukic paid dividends and then some as he opened the scoring and even extended their lead to push Madrid into a sense of collective bewilderment from which they looked like they couldn't snap out of.
Juve pressed high up and squeezed Real Madrid out of possession and Marcelo and Kroos were often starved for space as they tried to create something of note in response to the Juve onslaught.
It was Juventus' tenacity that got them the third goal too as Matuidi did not give up his chase and benefitted from Navas fumbling a straightforward ball.