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MOTD- Juventus 2-2 Real Madrid

By on November 5, 2013
Iker Casillas produced a vintage performance but couldn't keep Juventus from earning a 2-2 draw with Real Madrid

Iker Casillas produced a vintage performance but couldn’t keep Juventus from earning a 2-2 draw with Real Madrid

Iker Casillas produced a vintage performance to help Real Madrid earn a 2-2 draw against Juventus in Turin that puts Madrid through to the knockout stage of the Uefa Champions League, barring an incredible miracle.  Juventus, meanwhile find themselves at the bottom of Group B behind both Galatasaray and FC Copenhagen despite putting in a good showing in the thrilling night at the Juventus Stadium.

Casillas had one of the best first halves of his career keeping out Juventus multiple times, which will surely call into question Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to bench the Spanish international in La Liga.  Yet Juventus and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was the first keeper to be tested as Madrid began the match dominantly.  Cristiano Ronaldo sent a seemingly impossible snapshot inches wide of the far post from fifteen yards after chasing a long ball down the right, although Buffon had it covered.  Buffon then denied Gareth Bale in the thirteenth minute when the former Tottenham Hotspur winger flicked the ball through Martin Caceres while the pair were tussling in the left wing, giving Bale enough space the blast a low effort on goal that Buffon neatly gathered.

Juventus eventually found their way into the match, and soon controlled the flow of the game.  Antonio Conte’s side nearly took the lead in the sixteenth minute when Paul Pogba sent a low cross into the box from the left, and Casillas managed to punch it back into the mixer where Fernando Llorente just failed to connect with the loose ball to tap it home.  Casillas was forced into more brilliant work as Carlos Tevez’s in-swinging cross from the left found Llorente at the back post, and the forward blasted a powerful downwards header that should have been a goal.  It should have been the opener, but Casillas somehow managed to stick his right leg out to tip it wide. Pogba then had his deflected effort from twenty-yards pushed wide by Casillas, until Juve finally managed to take the lead in the forty-second minute.  Raphael Varane’s trailing leg brought down Pogba as the midfielder burst into the box from the left and the center-back attempted to tackle the ball away, resulting in a penalty which Arturo Vidal coolly curled into the top right corner.

Yet it was all Madrid as the second half began, with Los Blancos only needing three minutes of being on top to find an equalizer.  Benzema cut out a poor Caceres pass from the right back to his center-back before feeding it through to Ronaldo down the right side of the box.  Ronaldo curled it around the onrushing Buffon to make it 1-1, but it should have been 2-1 to Madrid just moments later when a blocked Bale cross from the right broke out to Xabi Alonso, who sent a screaming volley onto the crossbar from twenty-five yards out.

The match became an end-to-end encounter, and only two minutes later Casillas was forced into a world-class save in the fifty-eighth minute to block Claudio Marchisio fierce, five-yard shot from Pogba’s cut back from the left. Marchisio latched onto the rebound and again sent a shot towards the bottom right corner, only for Pepe to hack it off the line.  Both sides continued to look dangerous, but it was Real who took the lead when Ronaldo cut in from the right and played it across to Bale in the sixtieth minute.  Bale jinked around, before sending a low daisy-cutter towards the bottom corner from fifteen yards that managed to wriggle into the back of the net.  Only five minutes later Juventus responded, equalizing for themselves as Caceres curled a beautiful cross in from the right and Llorente ghosted behind Varane to head it into the back of the net from six yards.

Both sides dimmed their attacking down a bit as the match entered it’s final minutes, with both side’s settling for a draw following the other’s excellent display.  Howard Webb blew the full time whistle after two minutes of stoppage time, taking Madrid up to ten points in Group B and Juventus to three.
Man of the Match: Iker Casillas (Although Paul Pogba ranks close behind in second)

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.