GARETH FAIL
Real star has a nightmare
GARETH BALE suffered more agony last night as Real Madrid were dumped out of the Champions League by Juventus.
Alvaro Morata’s volley secured a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu and sent the Italians through 3-2 on aggregate to set up a final clash with Barcelona.
Bale, who has faced criticism from his own fans and been linked with a move back to the Premier League in the summer, endured another disappointing night and missed several chances.
Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 77th Champions League goal from the spot midway through the first half to put Real ahead, but Morata equalised on 56 minutes, and the holders were booed off the field.
LOCAL boy makes good. Not that they will be celebrating it i n Madrid. Alvaro Morata didn’t celebrate his moment of glory, either. Maybe he wants to come back here as a citizen one day.
Morata was the one they let go. The kid from the youth ranks who couldn’t quite cut it among the ranks of the beautiful people. He got as far as the Champions League final, playing 10 minutes as a substitute for Karim Benzema last year, but no further. Real Madrid sold him to Juventus in the summer — and last night he returned to admonish them in the most hurtful way possible. He knocked them out of the Champions League. At their place; 33 minutes short of the final.
There will be no El Clasico in Berlin. Juventus were worthy winners over two legs. They got a vital victory at home, and a vital goal away. Real Madrid are left ruing mistakes — like not facing up to the Iker Casillas issue a year earlier. He had two chances to stop the equalising goal. He failed both times.
The first was by punching out a high ball when he could have gathered. From there it was recycled, and headed across goal by Paul Pogba, putting in a heroic shift, half-fit and tiring, on his return from injury. He rose above Sergio Ramos, and the ball fell to Morata.
Scorer of Juve’s first in the home l eg, here was an even bigger moment — and, boy, did he rise to the occasion. He chested the ball down and struck his shot into the turf, skidding up and over Casillas, who got something on it but not enough.
There was power in the shot but it was straight at him really. One imagines David de Gea would have fancied his chances. Morata did the respectful non-celebration and his team-mates clung to their draw. What should have been a historic occasion f or Madrid ended in failure.
Before the game, the fans unfurled a reminder of the glorious past. A giant banner depicting the hero of those European Cup triumphs, Alfredo di Stefano. Maybe one day they will do the same for Cristiano Ronaldo. It was Di Stefano’s record he equalled, with his 307th goal for the club, scored from the penalty spot to give Madrid a first-half lead.
James Rodriguez’s fall looked soft — and his image wasn’t helped by the fact he was booked for diving soon after — but there was a definite foul by Giorgio Chiellini and referee Jonas Eriksson was right to point to the spot. Ronaldo stepped up, took his usual sideways step and found the back of the net. He now has 10 goals in Champions League semi-finals, twice as many as the next highest scorer.
They love him here, of course, which is more than can be said for Gareth Bale. As Madrid chased, so Bale’s desperation to rewrite his season’s narrative grew. Sadly he only made it worse. He missed at least three good chances to send the tie into extra-time — first from a Marcelo cross at the near post, then with a header from a Ronaldo cross, finally with another header from a corner. At least two of the three should have gone in. By the time he ran a ball out of touch on the right, the whistles had started. Some boos too. It is a long way back from here.
Sometimes, looking at what Bale brings to Real Madrid’s attack, it is hard to understand just why his team-mates do not use him more. He had very few touches in the first half here — only Casillas had fewer for Madrid — yet his brief involvements in the first half were invariably of the highest quality.
A ferocious tackle in the rightback position, a cracking diagonal pass from deep to set up a chance for Ronaldo, a fierce shot from 30 yards out that forced an excellent save from Gianluigi Buffon. Now think what he could do if they got the ball to him more times than it found the centre half.
Bale got Madrid’s ball rolling, the game just 37 seconds old when he met a Marcelo cross with a header at the far post. It went harmlessly over but the intent was there and the first half was dominated by Madrid attacks, even after Ronaldo’s goal had given them an aggregate lead on away goals.
In the sixth minute, an excellent bit of ball juggling from Karim Benzema in the penalty area took him around Chiellini but his finish was half as good, if that, the ball soaring into the crowd behind the goal. The pattern was set. Ronaldo stood over a free-kick after 11 minutes, but clipped the top of the wall for a corner. Plenty of swerve, plenty of dip, but the magic appears to have deserted him. That was his 54th direct free-kick of the season. One goal.
Isco struck a lovely chip after 18 minutes that travelled just wide, and from the next attack a Bale shot that brought memories of his final season at Tottenham — when team-mates ensured he saw plenty of the ball — needed every last fibre of agility in the aging Buffon. Fortunately for Juventus, he still has the athleticism of a man half his age.
For the Italians, there was no letup even after Ronaldo scored. A corner from Toni Kroos was met by the head of Benzema, Buffon solid again. Shortly after a Benzema shot travelled over, before Bale hit arguably the pass of the night, from right to left, upfield but perfectly weighted, putting Ronaldo in behind the back four.
His run was strong, so too his shot, but accuracy deserted him and the ball struck the side-netting. No sooner had Juventus cleared their lines when back came Madrid again, this time through Benzema, whose excellent dribble ended with a low shot that Buffon did well to save at his near post.
Juventus looked dangerous in possession but were at times simply overwhelmed by the weight of Madrid’s attacks. Their best chance came after 14 minutes when a run by Carlos Tevez was laid off to Arturo Vidal, whose low shot was tipped out and away from goal to the left by Casillas.
If the Italians had hoped to graft their way to Berlin — this was not a negative performance, but it was plain the intention was to play on the counter-attack — Ronaldo had disrupted those plans. They were out early for the second half, waiting in formation as Real walked out and Carlo Ancelotti, most certainly, would have recognised the signs. Tenacity, as much as technique, would win this tie.