Resurgent Juventus defeat Real 2-1 Thursday, October 23, 2008
Juventus shrugged off a wobble in form to beat Real Madrid 2-1 in Champions League Group H on Tuesday with goals from strikers Alessandro del Piero and Amauri.
Evergreen Del Piero, 33, latched on to Amauri's pass and curled the ball into the top corner from 20 metres after five minutes.
Injury-hit Juve, who had not won in five coming into the game, punished a lethargic Real again after 49 minutes when Amauri's header from Pavel Nedved's cross deflected in off Gabriel Heinze.
Ruud van Nistelrooy then nodded in unmarked for the visitors but Juve hung on despite dropping back very deep at times.
The Serie A club take over at the top of the group with seven points from three games with the Spanish champions on six. BATE Borisov drew 1-1 at Zenit St Petersburg in the other group match.
"Tonight we have been a bit lucky...but I must give credit to the players because they were compact and stopped Real playing like they are used to," Juve coach Claudio Ranieri told a news conference.
"We knew we were not doing so well this year but some of the criticism has been excessive. I knew the club was behind me," added Ranieri, whose side are languishing in 12th place in Serie A.
CANNAVARO BOOED
Real were on a high after beating Atletico Madrid 2-1 in last weekend's city derby but it was stuttering Juventus who came flying out of the traps.
"In Spain we are used to starting games well but tonight it was complicated. Juventus were quick off the mark and it was tough for us," Real coach Bernd Schuster said.
"Everyone said Juve were not in great form but they showed tonight they are an aggressive side. We must find new resolve and beat Juve at home and move forward."
All Real could really muster until their goal was a few long-range efforts, with Wesley Sneijder striking the post.
Real's former Juve defender Fabio Cannavaro was booed all night by the home crowd for quitting the Turin club following their demotion for match-fixing two years ago.
A minute's applause was held before kickoff after at least two Switzerland-based Juve supporters were killed and several injured when a coach crashed on its way to the game.
Home fans lightened the mood by waving thousands of black and white flags and really getting behind the twice European champions, who are back in the Champions League for the first time since the 2006 scandal.
"It was a game we have dreamed about for a long time," added Ranieri. (Editing by Sonia Oxley and Pritha Sarkar)
