By Yemi Babalola Lagos, Nigeria
The awaited second semi-final leg to decide who meets Juventus in Cardiff for the final of the 2017 UEFA Champions league came and Real Madrid came out tops on aggregate at the Estadio Vincente Calderon yester night.
As expected Atletico looked, better unlike the first leg at Real Madrid’s home, the Santiago Bernabéu where the Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick sunk Atletico. On Wednesday night, Atletico came all out to further proof them not having anything to lose. Saul Niguez scored for the host first in the 12th minute, before Antoine Griezmann tucked in a penalty 4 minutes after and this conned fans into expecting a comeback but Isco killed that dream 3 minutes to half time.
The match ended 2-1 in favour of Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night but on aggregate Real Madrid won 4-2 and progressed to meet Juventus in the finals of the Champions league. It not all bad for Atletico as they can look back on the night with good memories as that would be their last European match to be played at the Estadio Vincente Calderon, as they would be moving to their new ground the Wanda Metropolitano.
The stage is now been set as Real Madrid who has scored 2 goals in the competition this year would be taking on a defensive and smart Juventus side who has conceded just 3 goals in the competition this season. The game in Cardiff would be Real Madrid’s 15th European cup final appearance, while for Juventus it would be their ninth appearance.
This is making Real Madrid become the fifth reigning champions to reach the final in the UEFA Champions League era. While Juventus on the other hand are the only in the champions league this season not to lose a single game, they won nine matches and drew three.
Clearly, it promises to be an interesting final as we see this two giants of European football slugging it out on the pitch come June 3, 2017.
