Juventus 2-1 Monaco: Dani Alves stars again as Juve advances to Champions League

[Neymar110]

The Dani Alves show will carry on all the way to Cardiff. On Tuesday in the Champions League semifinal second leg, the Juventus defender again put together an out-of-this world performance, carrying the Italians past Monaco 2-1 in Turin to move on 4-1 on aggregate, by scoring a goal and assisting the other.

They have reached the ninth European Cup final of their history and, looking back, there was never any part of these two semi-final legs against Monaco that it looked like it would be any other way. The Monaco of Leonardo Jardim have been a splendid surprise this season, but Juventus are not a side who permit anyone to unsettle the great principles of how they play â€" most of the time they barely even tolerate conceding goals.

Buffon will now play his third Champions League final after an energetic but always controlled 2-1 defeat of Monaco, and a 4-1 win overall for a Juventus team that won this semi-final with something to spare, like a cagey old champion boxer keeping a slick young challenger at arm’s length.

Monaco was dangerous through the opening 20 minutes, and forced the Juventus defenders to make a few last-ditch clearances and tackles. Georgio Chiellini in particular was needed as he cleared it off the line after a shot got past Gianluigi Buffon.

Juventus would eventually gain control of the match past the 20-minute mark. Gonzalo Higuain had a big chance one-on-one with Danijel Subasic, but while his chip got past the Monaco goalkeeper, Kamil Glick was there to clear it off the line. Subasic then made a spectacular save on Mandzukic who got through.



This defeat against Juventus will prove to be an invaluable learning experience for many Monaco players, though as recent history has shown, no matter how many stars leave, Monaco have an enviable track record of finding other young talents to come in and take their place.