Juventus’ players celebrate winning after the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg match against Real Madrid FC at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid.
DPA/Rome
Some 3,000 Juventus fans made their way to Turin airport early Thursday to welcome back their squad after they qualified for the final of the Champions League.
A 1-1 draw at holders and 10-time winners Real Madrid Wednesday gave Juve a 3-2 aggregate win, sending them into the June 6 final in Berlin against Barcelona.
Selfies with players and chants livened up the night at Turin’s Sandro Pertini airport in a repeat of the parties that took place in the city on May 2 to celebrate a fourth straight Serie A title clinched with four games to spare.
“Juve, now on with Barcelona,” said the front-page headline of Turin daily La Stampa. Il Corriere dello Sport had “Heroes!” and “A gigantic Juve” on a picture of Arturo Vidal standing out from a group of hugging teammates.
La Gazzetta dello Sport opened with “Dream Juve: in the final!” and “Morata ousts his Real” to celebrate the two goals scored by the Spanish striker Alvaro Morata against his former team.
The 22-year-old also made the news for declining to celebrate two of the most important goals in his career.
There was general respect, however, for the bittersweet feelings of a young Madrid-born player who saw his goals eliminate the club he grew up in.
Morata will have no qualms scoring against Barcelona, who Italian media see as favourites to lift the trophy at Berlin’s Olympic stadium.
La Stampa commentator Luigi Garanzini noted that little contribution in Madrid came from Juve big guns Paul Pogba, Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez.
As Pogba is yet to reach top form after injury, and Tevez was marked well in Madrid after a great showing in Turin, veteran Pirlo is expected to bring out his class in the closing part of the season.
The Berlin final is expected to stir up the play-maker, who along with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and defender Andrea Barzagli lifted the 2006 World Cup trophy in the same stadium after beating France on penalties in the final.
“You don’t get many chances to play in a match like this final,” captain Buffon said. “When they come around you have to take them. We are not going to Berlin just to make up the numbers. This final is a massive opportunity. I feel very proud.”
Juve won the elite event in 1986 and 1996 and will be playing in their eighth final overall, the last being 2003 when they lost on penalties against AC Milan.
'Incredible but true’
Coach Massimiliano Allegri called the qualification “incredible but true,” keeping his low profile and adding that “the lads really deserve the praise. It is an amazing night for them and for Italian football in general.
“I am starting to realize just what a tremendous season we are having - perhaps beyond what anyone ever expected.”
On his first season at Juve, Allegri has done better than his predecessor Antonio Conte, who lifted three straight Serie A titles, but never came close to the final in the other two tournaments of the season.
With the league title secured, Juve’s next hurdle is the Italian Cup final against Lazio, which was rescheduled from June 7 to next week Wednesday at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.
“We have a Coppa Italia final coming up which is hugely important for us,” Allegri said. “Then we have this massive game in Berlin. We got into the final by believing in our ability and that belief has grown and grown.
“Anything can happen in a one-off match. We will see which team is in the best shape in a month’s time.”
