Juventus Wins Monaco to Reach 2016/17 Champions League Final

Italian Serie A giants Juventus have reached the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League final after securing a comfortable aggregate semi-final victory over their French counterparts, Monaco. Leading 2-0 from the first leg at the Stade Louis II, the Italian side completed the win with a 2-1 victory at home on Tuesday night, to advance on 4-1 aggregate. The home side got ahead in the 33rd minute when Mario Mandzukic stabbed in after his initial header was saved. Dani Alves doubled their lead on the night with an instinctive volley from goalkeeper Danijel Subasic’s punched clearance exactly a minute before half time.

Monaco’s Kylian Mbappe made a little bit of history when he turned in Joao Moutinho’s low cross to pull one back in the second half, the competition’s youngest ever scorer in a semi-final at 18 years and 140 days. The France international scored from close range to end Juventus’ 690 minute run of not conceding in European football. “If we’d taken to the pitch thinking we were already through we would have found it tough, we were ready to react to everything they threw at us. That’s how we got through,” Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon said after the victory.

Speaking after the ouster, Monaco star, Radamel Falcao, said: “They played really well and took their chances. We weren’t clinical enough when we had opportunities. We fought hard all season for Monaco and for French football and we hope we’ll be better next season.” In the other semi-final tie, Atletico Madrid will host city rivals Real Madrid on Wednesday looking to overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit. And Juventus, who have not won the competition since 1996 and lost 3-1 to Barcelona in the 2015 final, will face either team in Cardiff on 3 June.