This game was important to both team. Real Madrid could have assured the promotion to the play-off stage of Champions League. Juventus is desperately seeking points in order to maintain to chance to get to the play-offs. Unfortunately, in the first half the game was a bit disappointing. The Italians were dominating the pitch, but they couldn't really do much with it. There were very few shots from both sides and most of the first half was simply boring. The only situation worth noting is was the penalty awarded to Juventus after Varane's foul. Vidal took it away and Juventus was in the lead.
In the second half the game changed, because Real was trying to score an equalizer. The offensive trio - Benzema, Ronaldo and Bale - became much more active and managed to create some dangerous situations. Seven minutes after the break Caceres made a mistake and lost the ball about 30m from his team's goal. Benzema passed exquisitely to Ronaldo and it was 1-1. It was a well-deserved goal, as Real was definitely better in the second half. In 60' Bale proved that he is getting in shape, as he scored a goal from outside the box and having two defenders in front of him. The battle between him and Di Maria for the first squad will be interesting, as the Argentinian player has been one of the most important players this season.
However, just 5 minutes later Varane did something he doesn't do often - he screwed up. It was his foul after which Juventus got a penalty and now he didn't manage to stop Llorente from scoring after a long pass from the right corner. Young Frenchman was probably the worst player of the night, but he's still learning and has the right to make mistakes. After so many perfect or almost perfect games, especially with the likes of FC Barcelona, he's allowed to play beneath Real Madrid level.
After Llorente's goal it was still Madrid who had more energy and willingness to score another goal, but the result remained the same until the final whistle. I think that a draw is a fair result, as the Juventus was much better in the first half, while Real Madrid managed to dominate in the second half. What's really positive is that Gareth Bale seems to acquire some sort of stability. In the last 3 games he scored 3 times and had 4 assists, which is a great result. Benzema didn't give as much as he should've, but his focus was probably blocking Pirlo which he did. However, Ancelotti still has to work a lot on the defensive tactics, as the ones the team developed so far seem to fail in almost every game.
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