Juventus booked their place in a second Champions League final in three years as Massimiliano Allegri’s side completed a 4-1 aggregate victory over Monaco on Tuesday night.
First-half strikes from Mario Mandzukic and Dani Alves all but ended the contest before half-time at the Juventus Stadium before Kylian Mbappe scored a consolation for the Ligue 1 side in the second period.
But if you were too heavily invested in the match, don’t worry because Sportsmail’s eagle-eyed team were on hand to run you through the things you may have missed from Turin…
Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers – a strict businessman having made millions as a supermarket boss – was busy telling captains Gianluigi Buffon and Radamel Falcao about the coin toss, but many fans inside the stadium would not have seen the exchange.
The main stand created a giant mosaic in line with the club’s somewhat premature video entitled ‘It’s time for Cardiff’ released on their official YouTube channel on Monday.
The tifo in Turin was designed to motivate the players to finish off the tie in front of their home supporters, but it was Monaco who made the brighter start to the second leg – clearly riled by the over-confidence of their opponent’s media team.
MONACO FORCED INTO LATE CHANGE
Were you to be rushing home from work in time for kick-off on Tuesday night, you may have missed the late change to the starting line-up for Monaco.
Benjamin Mendy was initially named on the substitutes’ bench, but an injury in the warm-up to Moroccan right winger Nabil Dimbar enabled the Chelsea target to return from the start following two games out with a hamstring problem.
Mendy’s inclusion resulted in a tactical change by manager Leonardo Jardim, who in having another left-sided player in the team, reverted to a three centre-back system, with the one-capped France international on one flank and Djibril Sidibé on the other.
It’s one of the most important games of any season for Monaco, with the experienced Falcao playing in his very first Champions League semi-final despite his exploits throughout his career on the continent.
But, rather like some members of the Arsenal and Manchester United teams at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, the Colombian striker appeared more concerned with greeting an opponent than having a fixed gaze ahead contemplating the job at hand.
Not quite a church service, but given the relative low stakes of Sunday’s Premier League clash, the gesture will not have gone unnoticed by former United hardman Roy Keane ahead of his ITV punditry duties this week.
Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero made sure the thousands of miles between himself and his former club didn’t mean he missed the first leg in Monaco a week ago, and the Italian tuned in once more from California to watch them finish off the job.
The 42-year-old posted another picture on his Instagram account ahead of kick-off with the caption, ‘It’s time’, as the Serie A giants bid to end a run of four consecutive Champions League final defeats next month.
Del Piero played a pivotal role the last time these two sides met in the semi-finals of the competition in 1998.
But while he was Monaco’s nemesis 19 years ago, it was Dani Alves who almost single-handedly decided the tie with three assists and a goal across the 180 minutes.
Juventus took a deserved lead on the night through Mario Mandzukic after 32 minutes to extend their advantage to 3-0 on aggregate, but the celebration music was not what you might have expected.
As the Croatian forward jumped into the crowd having beaten his countryman Danijel Subasic at the second attempt, The Fratellis’ hit single ‘Chelsea Dagger’ could be heard over the tannoy.
Since moving to the new stadium in 2011, the Scottish rock band have been used after home goals. First adopted by Celtic – for whom the lead singers are supporters – MLS side Montreal Impact and A-League outfit Perth Glory also play out a quick rendition. Who said the Scots
Such was the velocity of the former Barcelona defender’s shot, the chairman of the Serie A giants has his socks knocked off.
Mr Agnelli was swiftly helped back to his feet, but the adrenaline of seeing his team all but confirm their place in Cardiff’s final would have certainly softened the blow.
Despite the hosts being in a commanding position with the cushion of a lead on the night as an insurance to go along with two away goals scored at the Stade Louis II, defender Giorgio Chiellini was determined to come away with a clean sheet.
The experienced centre-half made an astonishing clearance when Monaco looked certain to reduce the arrears with five minutes of the first-half remaining, and the Italian turned to Buffon and celebrated as if he had scored at the other end.
Juventus put on quite a show, and by the interval they had gone 666 minutes since the last time they conceded in the competition. When it comes to defending, the Italians are devilishly good.
Dani Alves was having yet another fine game for Juventus before he nearly broke the net with his sumptuous right-foot volley from the edge of the box on the stroke of half-time.
But with his fifth goal for the club – and second in three games – the experienced Brazilian full-back sent Barcelona fans into meltdown on social media, lamenting their club’s decision to allow the player to leave on a free transfer last summer.
Alves was trending on Twitter shortly after his thunderbolt, with over 100,000 mentions reached during the half-time break.
The player is clearly hellbent on defeating one of the Madrid clubs in the final, and Barca fans were quick to express their regret at having lost a trusted lieutenant – especially given their struggles to replace him on the right of defence.
