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In what was one of the greatest Champions League performances in history, Juventus produced a stirring comeback to eliminate Atletico Madrid from the UCL.
The Spaniards came into the match holding a 2-0 aggregate lead from the first leg, and were many people's favorites to triumph, as Juve's lack of an away goal put the ball firmly in Diego Simeone's court.
However, as football has constantly shown us over the years, no two games are exactly the same and nowhere was that more evident than at the Juventus stadium as the Old Lady of Turin put in a wonderful display which ran in total contrast to their performance in the first leg.
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A 3-0 result on the night was enough to see Juventus through to the last eight at the expense of Atleti, who were left licking their wounds.
Also See: Champion League Table | Champion League Fixtures | Champion League
In this piece, therefore, we shall be taking a look at four factors which aided Juventus's incredible comeback triumph.
#4 Incredible home support
It is often said that the fans are the '12th man' in a football match, offering the players on the field that extra lift needed to step up their game by a notch, and this held true during the clash between Juventus and Atletico Madrid.
Prior to the blast of the whistle, 40,000 fans had gathered at the Allianz stadium, giving it a rocking carnival feeling, and this is an atmosphere that was maintained from start to finish, as the fans roared their players on with every attack and cheered loudly for every goal scored.
It required a tremendous amount of faith to believe Juventus could qualify, but their fans showed that they were not lacking in belief, cheering their players at every opportunity and urging them on for victory.
The importance of a tremendous home atmosphere cannot be underestimated, as the physical boost giving to players by a roaring crowd has been confirmed to be a motivating factor and on the night, the full force of the Juventus fans could be heard and this helped push their team to an unlikely victory.
#3 Allegri's tactical masterpiece
Atletico Madrid have earned a reputation of being one of the grittiest teams in all of Europe, sticking to their guns and maintaining their shape, while also being incredibly difficult to break down.
It is hard enough to play Atletico Madrid on any other day, much less one where they have a 2-0 lead to protect, hence getting them to give anything in this clash was always going to be a tall order.
However, Max Allegri deserves immense praise for drawing up a tactical plan to outwit Diego Simeone, while his players also deserve credit for sticking to it.
Despite Juve's need for goals, Allegri controversially left Paulo Dybala on the bench, sacrificing the Argentine's creativity for the industry of Emre Can, with his midfield trio of Pjanic, Matuidi and Can working tirelessly in the middle of the park to stifle the channel linking midfield with attack.
This meant that the Atleti forwards were largely deprived of services, thereby reducing them to speculative shots from distance (which Sczenzny had covered all through the night).
Upfront, the constant running of Mandzukic and Bernadeschi kept the Atletico Madrid defense on their toes all through, limiting their forays forward and giving Ronaldo the opportunity to put them to the sword.
The 51-year-old's decision to also give youth a chance proved effective, as the debuting Spinnazola proved a constant thorn in Santiago Arias's flesh, with his opposite partner Joao Cancelo doing the same; while marauding Federico Bernardeshi was full of running throughout and it was off him that the match winning penalty was won as well as creating the assist for the opening goal.
#2 Atletico's blunt attack
While Diego Simeone's men might be more prominent for their resolute defending, they are no slouches either when it comes to attacking and in Antoine Griezmann, they have one of the deadliest forwards in all of Europe
The World Cup winner is ably supported by a reborn Alvaro Morata, while Saul Niguez and Nikolo Kalinic can also provide attacking ammunition.
Juventus' lack of an away goal gave Atletico the advantage in that all they needed was just one goal in Turin to further swing the tie away from their hosts, as for every goal scored by the visitors, the Italian giants needed three extra, which is a tall order against a team like Atleti.
However, the LaLiga outfit got their scripts horribly wrong, as they failed to truly worry the Juve back line, rarely looking like they could get that all important away goal.
In total, the Rojiblancos had a total of four shots in the entirety of the match of which just one was on target, which is rather disappointing for a club boasting the star forwards at the club and considering how much was at stake.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo
Before last night's clash against Atletico Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo had yet to truly show his impact in the Champions League which is the tournament which Juventus broke the bank for him to perform in.
However, the truth is that prior to the clash, Juve had never really been in need of his services, as Ronaldo has proved time and again to be the go-to man whenever his team is in trouble and last nigh was no different.
Having endured a miserable first leg on his return to Madrid, the loud jeers from the Wanda stands forced a frustrated Ronaldo to rise up his five fingers to remind the fans of how many UCL trophies he had won in comparison to their zero.
Ahead of the second leg clash, Ronaldo himself believed that he could score a hat-trick to decide the outcome of the match and true to his form, he did so, sealing Atletico's fate in the process.
The 34-year-old has been in this situation numerous times in the past with Real Madrid and was signaled out as one of the players who could decide the tie in Juventus's favor and the Portuguese icon did not disappoint.
The goals took his tally against the Rojiblancos to 25 in 34 appearances and having denied them three already in the past, Ronaldo single-handedly made sure that Atletico Madrid's wait for UCL glory would have to wait for at least another year.
