Anyone reading the headlines all over about this match, are probably under the impression that both of these ballers had themselves a game playing against one another. But in fact, it was almost the complete opposite. Each team had flashes where they showed why they were top dogs in this competition. But in my eyes, Atletico reign as the ultimate victors of this match.
Both of these Portuguese stars were in the starting line up on Wednesday, and even showed some love to each other before the start of the match. But each of these star’s teammates came out to show they hold bigger roles than just supporting cast members.
Juventus were the ones who took hold of the game first, showing that a team with a brand new look and a brand new manager, can still compete for the CL trophy. Juan Cuadrado scored the first goal just after halftime (48th), with a stunner of a strike, by using his weaker left foot just inside the corner of the box. A quick release pass was played up to Gonzalo Higuaín, who in turn had started the goal scoring play. Higuaín held up the play beautifully until he found Cuadrado across the box for him to finish.
Juventus kept a strong hold on the game, and eventually tacked on another goal in the 65th minute by the head of Blaise Matuidi. Now, this is where one of those Portuguese stars comes into play, as Ronaldo moved the offense strongly up the pitch to start the attack. With a lay-off down the line, Alex Sandro played the ball in for Matuidi to put away past a helpless Jan Oblak.
Almost immediately, Atletico Madrid come striking back in the 70th minute with a well worked set piece goal. The free kick was played in to the back post, where it was then headed back across the face of the goal for Savić to nod in with Sczęsny nowhere in sight. Now with the game being at Atletico’s home stadium, you can physically see the momentum shift in their favor as the fans start to get behind them.
Now around the 72nd minute of the match, Gonzalo Higuaín had an amazing opportunity to shift the game in their favor. As he was making a great run down the right hand side of the pitch, Ronaldo was centering himself for a pass across the goal, in order for him to tap it in, to then make the score 3-1 with them now being in the lead. Higuaín decided to take the opportunity on himself, and took a shot that Jan Oblak easily had covered and deals with it, as he should. So, this is where Atletico start to gain more hope and grit.
As the game was starting to dwindle into the last seconds of injury time, Atletico did not let up the pressure on Juventus. This pressure resulted in Juventus conceding a 90th minute corner kick. Héctor Herrera, who had just been subbed in, attacks the cross and heads in the goal for Atletico Madrid to save a point during the final seconds of the match. Showing their perseverance and the willingness to always play their hardest until the last whistle, Atletico managed to salvage themselves a point. And just as we all thought Juventus were going to walk away with all 3.
Top Shelf Soccer 