Juventus 2-1 Real Madrid: 5 Talking Points

Carlos Tevez’s second-half penalty keeps alive Juventus’ plans of reaching their first UEFA Champions League final since 2003 as they travel to Madrid next week with a one-goal lead. Alvaro Morata scored the opener inside 10 minutes after Carlos Tevez's effort was spilled by Iker Casillas. Cristiano Ronaldo levelled the score before the break after nodding in James Rodriguez's cross from close range.But, once the hosts took the lead following Dani Carvajal’s trip on Tevez, manager Massimiliano Allegri’s intentions of seeing the game out was clear. In the end, Juve held on and extended Madrid’s miserable record in Italy to no wins in their eight games.Here are the major talking points from the game:

#1 A fantastic spectacle

Considering that this was the first leg of a semi-final between an Italian club (stereotypical reference to Italy's defensive mentality. Check) and an Italian manager, who knows what it takes to win Europe's biggest prize, you would have forgiven people for thinking that this was going to be a cagey encounter. The fact that both sides combined for just two goals in their quarter-final encounter and that was to be expected. But the game was anything but cagey.

Although the second half wasn't as free flowing as the first, with too many niggly fouls, it was still far more entertaining than what many would have predicted. Both sides were determined to go into the second leg with an advantage and that was evident in how both teams attacked and wanted to score. If the second leg is half as good as this, then we are very lucky indeed.