Eurosport - Thu, 06 Nov 09:23:00 2008
Juventus recorded a stunning double over Real Madrid with a 2-0 victory at the Bernabeu in Champions League Group H thanks to an inspired brace from Alessandro Del Piero.
The much-lauded Italian forward followed up his wonder goal in the reverse fixture in Turin, with two exquisite strikes for the Bianconeri.
Royston Drenthe was brought in as a late replacement by Bernd Schuster, with Arjen Robben pulling up injured in the warm-up, but the Dutchman was comfortably Real's best player in an otherwise mediocre display from the hosts.
A sprightly opening from Schuster's men was halted abruptly in the 17th minute, when Del Piero unleashed an emphatic strike to dampen the home side's spirits.
As Guti and Marcelo backed-off, the diminutive Italian strode forward before nonchalantly side-footing his shot with deadly precision from 20-yards to find Iker Casillas's far corner.
The game then briefly descended into a scrappy affair with referee Peter Vink brandishing his yellow card four times in ten minutes, before normal play was resumed.
Tiago had a glorious opportunity to equalise as he attempted to latch on to Amauri de Oliveira's cross, but the midfielder stumbled and fell at the crucial moment.
Mahamadou Diarra then met Drenthe's whipped delivery from the left with a tame header to give the visitors a further reprieve on the stroke of half-time.
But the night was all about Del Piero, and the Italian magician doubled his tally in the 67th minute with a sublime free-kick from 25 yards, which he directed with deadly accuracy into the far corner of Casillas's net.
Real had their vociferous appeals for a penalty in the 72nd minute waved away by Vink, as Raul collapsed under Giorgio Chiellini's challenge, after Van Nistelrooy had peeled away and crossed from the right wing.
Substitute striker Gonzalo Higuain had two chances late on for Los Merengues, but failed to convert either, leaving Real with more to do in Group H, while Claudio Ranieri's side advance serenely to the knockout stages.
BATE Borisov 0-2 Zenit St Petersburg
Zenit St Petersburg beat fellow Champions League debutants BATE Borisov 2-0 to keep alive their chances of reaching the knockout stage in the group's other match.
Russia striker Pavel Pogrebnyak fired the UEFA Cup holders ahead in the 34th minute and Portugal international Danny added the second in the final minute to seal Zenit's first victory in the competition.
The Belarus champions, who held Zenit to a 1-1 draw two weeks ago, had several chances to get on the scoresheet and were denied by keeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev.
BATE piled up the pressure after the break but the visitors, who had French defender Sebastien Puygrenier sent off for a second yellow card on 73 minutes, held firm to move off the bottom of Group H.
The home team, who clinched their third consecutive domestic title last week with three games to spare, created the first chance in the 11th minute when Pavel Nekhaychik's close-range effort was stopped by Malafeyev.
Zenit hit back through captain Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, whose low drive from long range went just wide in the 23rd minute before Pogrebnyak missed the target from a tight angle.
The tall striker made no mistake a few minutes later after being sent clean through by fellow Russia international Konstantin Zyryanov.
BATE wasted an excellent chance to equalise when Dmitri Likhtarovich's close-range header was blocked by Malafeyev.
The hosts, who lost central defender Vladimir Rzhevski through injury 13 minutes after the break, attacked in vain in the second half.
Zenit also had opportunities of their own until Danny, their record signing from Dynamo Moscow earlier this year, made sure of the points with the last kick of the match.
Comment 18 - 37 of 37
hahaha...padan muke real..that's my bro..the best player in the world..alex del piero..del piero just kick real madrid @#$%..haha...lets booo real fans...BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Real Madrid are overrated , overhyped RUBBISH !!
Again "il fenomeno vero"! A standig ovation at Bernabeu says it all... Deserved every bit of it! What a legend!
Please check the article "Tiago had a glorious opportunity to equalise": Tiago plays for Juve, Juve had NEVER a chance to equalise, as they conceded no goals.
I was rooting for Real but I think that the match should have ended in a draw. Del Piero was the life and soul of Juve, so as a team they shouldn't have won; on the other hand, Schuster erred in leaving van der Vaart on the bench, that was really stupid of him. And to sub off van Nistelrooy? So, both teams were mediocre, but Drenthe's performance was pretty good, and kudos to Del Piero.
Alex.... ur great...
as much as ur getting older, as much as ur potentials r increasing...
ur a true legend.
Samer from Beirut-Lebanon.
anyone into BETTING??? i've got info about FIXED MATCHES (3-6 a month). My sources of info are 100%. to prove that will give first one free. interested??? mail igorhni@seznam.cz
best football player alive!best football player alive!
This is not the best Juve, half of the team is still injured. But fortunetely the others are in an excellent form. Del Piero is just unbelievable, everybody thought already 3-4 years ago that he was on the descending path of his career. And when he stayed with Juve in Serie B, that he was quitting any kind of first class football. Well that's ALREADY wrong, he was top scorer in serie B 2 years ago, of serie A last year, anf of CL presently!!!
Un capitano, c'e' solo un capitano!!!
Blees Juventus...I know Delpiero so I know Juve,Juventus without delpiero is as ROME was without KEISAR...
All way go to Turin...
I'm a Liverpool fan,but in Giggs and Del Piero it goes to prove,Class is permanent!!
del piero is number one!madrid ko!
thanks capitano!
forza juve!!!
ultrą bianconeri!
Way of Life !!! Del Piero is on his bike and no one can catch him
del piero is an italian legend and real madrid are @#$% losers.all hail d italian legend "DEL PIERO"
Once again Juventus proves why they should be feared now that they are back in top flight football. They have good team spirit,quality players and a manager that has realised to build a team on a strong and stable foundation... Del Piero one of the very few players from a golden age of football that keeps on shining... Well done to Juve for beating Real Madrid in Spain... so it took 40 years to do but what a way to do it.
Giggs and Del piero are of another breed.The Maradona , Kaka,and eric Cantona Class.They ooze sheer class and have the best attitude.
It`s no coincidence they keep of cutting it through at the Ultimate level.
An example for the Ronaldo`s and ronaldino`s to emulate.
peasant portugeese and brszilians!
Giggs and Del piero are of another breed.The Maradona , Kaka,and eric Cantona Class.They ooze sheer class and have the best attitude.
It`s no coincidence they keep of cutting it through at the Ultimate level.
An example for the Ronaldo`s and ronaldino`s to emulate.
peasant portugeese and brszilians!
Del Piero has oozed class thru-out his entire career. He can always deliver a performance of such qualtiy whenever. The man is a legend
Del Piero, Legend of juve
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