Joel Richards

The unthinkable had happened. 3-0 down from a first leg that was dominated by more superhuman feats from Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus stunned Real Madrid and wiped out their seemingly unassailable lead.

A first-half double from Mario Mandzukic gave hope, before a Keylor Navas fumble on the hour mark allowed Blaise Matuidi to pounce and make it 3-0. The Santiago Bernabeu was stunned. Real’s dreams of a third consecutive UEFA Champions League crown was on very thin ice and one of the competition’s greatest ever comebacks was nearly complete.

Desperate to avoid humiliation, the home side rallied and threw everything at their opponents who held firm. Chances came and went as the minutes crept towards 90 and what would be extra-time if they didn’t breach the Juventus rear-guard.

At the heart of that resolute defence was Gianluigi Buffon. In the final act of his 17-year association with the Old Lady, Buffon knew this was his last chance at winning the one trophy that eluded him in an otherwise glittering spell in Turin. Maybe, just maybe, he would miraculously prevail from this tie and live to fight another day.

The clock reached 90 minutes, six minutes of stoppage time stood between Juventus and an additional 30 minutes to complete an epic turnaround. Yet in the 93rd minute, all their hopes and dreams went up in smoke after a push in the area from Medhi Benatia on Lucas Vazquez saw referee Michael Oliver award a penalty. Bedlam ensued.

Amongst the chaos, Buffon stormed out of his goal and led an incensed response from the visitors at the English official, who had the temerity to burst the Juventus bubble. But Oliver was not for turning, and after a torrent of foul and abusive language from the veteran goalkeeper he sent off an incensed Buffon.

If there was one man inside the stadium that night who empathised with the Italian, he was stood in the technical area scarcely believing his luck. After all, Zidane’s career ended in the same acrimonious circumstances when his headbutt on Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final soured what should have been a fond farewell.

As Buffon stormed off the pitch, Wojciech Szczesny replaced Gonzalo Higuain with his task simple: stop Ronaldo’s penalty. Meanwhile, Juve players did their best to orchestrate mind games with the Real talisman who had the hopes of an entire crowd and team pinned on his back.

Eventually, order was restored, and in the 97th minute, Ronaldo, as he had done on countless occasions throughout his career, delivered when it mattered most. His spot-kick was emphatically dispatched into the top right-hand corner and the European champions had got out of jail. Amidst the ecstatic celebrations in the Bernabeu was relief at how it all nearly went so disastrous for Los Blancos. 

For all associated with Juventus, only anger, heartbreak and a sense of ‘what if?’ lingered as for a second consecutive season their dreams of European glory were ended by their Real counterparts.