Carlos Tevez hands Juventus the Initiative

A desperate performance from Real Madrid ensured that they left Turin having to overturn a 1 goal deficit, while Juventus can be quietly confident about their chances in the Bernabeu.

The game started at a frantic pace with a goalkeeping error from Iker Casillas nearly gifting Arturo Vidal a free shot. Juventus made a positive start with Vidal and Carlos Tevez finding pockets of space between the defence and attack. Alvaro Morata was able to outmuscle Pepe and to get a lobbed attempt on goal from about 25 yards only for the Spanish international to tamely fend it away.

Juve were awarded for their attacking exploits when a pass found Tevez in space on the edge of the box. His shot was palmed away by Casillas only to into the path of his former team mate, Alvaro Morata, and he had the easiest finish of his career. Madrid were still in the changing rooms.

The first 20 minutes belonged to Juventus. They received the majority of possession and dominated the midfield encounter. Their pressure was exceptional and they man marked Cristiano Ronaldo with aplomb. Frustration was building from Ronaldo and co. Tevez and Vidal brought to light Sergio Ramos' incapabilities when he was played out of position.

Juve's vulnerabilities on the flanks were fatally exposed when James Rodriguez was able to beat Patrice Evra and a ball found Ronaldo who ghosted into the edge of the 6 yard area to nod home from point blank range. While the opening 20 minutes belonged to Juve, the confidence began to grow in the final stages of the first half for Real Madrid.

Some brilliant, free flowing football from Real Madrid showed us why they are European Champions. Great build up play from Marcelo and Carvajal allowed Isco to fire the ball along the box and a header from James cannoned off the cross bar to Marcelo who sent it over the ball. This would be the last action of what was an interesting half.

The first ten minutes of the second half was sloppy, but it sparked into life when a scintillating run from Carlos Tevez ended in a penalty when Carvajal bundled the Argentine to the floor. He stepped up to restore Juve's lead and send the Juventus Stadium into raptures. The pendulum had swung back in favour of the Turin side.

As the game grew older, Real were beginning to get more and more edgy. Andrea Barzagli was introduced to help solidify things at the back while, Ancelotti brought on the quarter final winner, Javier Hernandez for some inspiration.

The Mexican looked lively and thrived upon a tired Juve defence but was unable to capitalise. The Old Lady were content to absorb the pressure in the closing stages and try and take a lead to the infamous Santiago Bernabeu. The passion displayed on the pitch from the home side was epitomised through tackles from Vidal and Andrea Pirlo who through their bodies at everything.

Real Madrid had too many passengers tonight and Juventus take a deserved lead to the Bernabeu. They will have every confidence that they can continue their excellent form this year into the return leg while Real will have to think long and hard at how to break a decent Italian defence.

The Time to Shine for the Old Lady

For all their domestic dominance in Serie A, Juventus have been less than impressive in Europe over recent years. Now however, they have received a favourable draw, and could find themselves in their first semi-final since the 2002/2003 season.

Leading the Serie A by fourteen points with ten games to go, I'm sure Massimiliano Allegri is pretty confident that the Scudetto is staying in Turin and has the luxury of concentrating their efforts elsewhere. Having won the last 3 Serie A titles under fan favourite Antonio Conte, the value of domestic silverware is waning and Allegri will be hoping to restore Juventus back to the European Stage.

There is no reason why the Old Lady can reach a semi-final with a quarter final tie against Monaco. Fresh from a riveting win over Arsenal, The principality club will offer stiff opposition, not to be underestimated, as the Gunners found out in the previous round. From the first leg it was evident that the pace they have in Anthony Martial and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco are devastating when playing on the counter attack and the unpredictability that Berbatov brings will ask Juve questions that need to be answered.

The away leg first will suit the Ligue 1 side better meaning that they know what they have to do when in the home leg. For Juventus they will have to combat the pace on the flanks, through Stephan Lichsteiner and Patrice Evra. Defensively, The Turin side are solid, particularly in the league, only conceding 14 goals in 28 games domestically. Not only this season, but over the past years, Juve have had an excellent defence, compared to those of the top European sides.

Similar to Juventus, Monaco also have an exceptional defence. Coach Leonardo Jardim has transformed the defence, particularly with Aymen Abdennour at the heart. The Tunisian was a star performer in the Arsenal tie and constantly put his body on the line for his club. The defence was well organised as Alexis, Welbeck, Oxlade-Chamberlain or Walcott never faced any one on ones. If Juventus' midfield can isolate Tevez or Morata with a defender, they will have the beating of them. With Juve likely to have most of the ball, they should hope to play the ball to the feet of Tevez and look for Morata to feed off him.

At home, I expect Juventus to record a positive result. In the league they have a near flawless record, blemished by the odd draw. Since October 2010, they have only lost twice, once on penalties in the Super Cup against Napoli in late December and the second in the Coppa Italia tie versus Fiorentina at the beginning of March. This is a phenomenal record, regardless of the quality of teams in the league. Monaco will find it very hard to leave Turin with a draw, never mind a precious victory.

In the away leg, if they get a good result at home, then Juventus can return back to their stereotypically defensive side that epitomised Italian football for many years. It's a risky strategy, but with the defensive prowess of the Old Lady, I wouldn't be surprised if they were able to pull this off. Monaco seemed comfortable sacrificing possession to Arsenal - they had 43% at the Emirates and 30% at home - so expect Pogba, Pirlo, Vidal and co. to dictate the tempo of the play. A victory for Juve would pose a difficult situation for Monaco as they may have to negate their defensive duties in search of a goal. This would suit Juve, particularly through the speed of Tevez, Morata and Lichtsteiner. 

Up front, they also have a bite. Carlos Tevez has proven a useful signing, scoring 16 goals. Alvaro Morata has edged out Fernando Llorente over the last few weeks, as he offers more mobility. Llorente is often used as a go to man whenever they are in great need of a goal. His height and physicality allows the wide men to swing balls into the air, and he often delivers.

The Madrid derby will undoubtedly overshadow this, but I look forward to this just as much. Juventus adopt a 4-3-3 formation instead of the standard 3-5-2/5-3-2 that we were used to seeing during the Conte era. A 4-3-3 will match up against Monaco, who play a similar formation. Lichsteiner loves to get forward on the right, and this could be somewhere which Monaco may be able to exploit.

While Paul Pogba was an icon during previous season, his exploits this year have only added to his value. The young Frenchman is their linchpin and he will be at the centre of any European success in the next few years. Similarly, they have Kingsley Coman, a young attacker, highly rated in the Juve ranks. We know Tevez can unlock any defence as we know, and the defence is solid. It’s written in the stars for Juventus FC.

I would tip Juventus to progress to the semi-finals, as Monaco are a relatively young team, and this could be one step too far for the French side. As for the semis, I’m not convinced they are able to compete at the top level against the European elite. This is a massive opportunity for Juventus and Turin will be bouncing when Les Monegasques visit on the 14^th April.

10 Transfers That Caught Everyone off Guard

I nearly fell off my seat when I read on various sports sites that Manchester United had accepted a loan offer from Real Madrid for the little Mexican, Javier Hernandez. In light of Real Madrid's recent acquisition of Chicharito, what other transfers caught everyone off guard?

Luis Figo features on this list not because of his lack of talent (he had plenty of it!) but because of the clubs involved in his transfer. As all of you are aware, Barcelona and Real Madrid are fierce rivals, so to transfer from one to another during the peak of your career is seen as homocide. In 2000, he sentenced himself to a life time of abuse every time he visited the Nou Camp with Los Blancos. Everyone can remember his first El Clasico at the Nou Camp since his arrival in Madrid. The words "Judas", "Traitor" and "Scum" were ringing in Barcelona that night and was also mixed with the clatter of missiles aimed at the Portuguese international. It was safe to say that the Figo and Madrid were overwhelmed as they collapsed to a 2-0 defeat. 

Julien Faubert - remember him? Somehow the former West Ham wing-back managed to secure a loan deal to Real Madrid from the Hammers for a suspected fee of £1.5m with an option to buy at the end of the loan. I would like to know what Juande Ramos was smoking when he decided to sign Faubert, as he failed to score a goal in 27 appearances and only registered 3 assists, not very inspiring form to warrant a transfer to arguably the most famous club in the world. It was safe to say that the Frenchman flopped at Madrid, as he only made 2 appearances and his off field antics did not help him make his name at Madrid. He was once pictured sleeping on the bench as a substitute and even at his unveiling, Alfredo di Stefano seemed a bit bewildered.

                        

There was no way that this list would ever be complete without the Legend of Ali Dia appearing on it. I'm sure everyone knows the story but for those who don't let me refresh your memory. In 1996, Graeme Souness was convinced that the Senegalese footballer was the cousin of FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon D'Or winner, George Weah. Astonishingly, Souness, with an admitted lack of scouting, offered Dia a one month contract at the Saints. After making a single appearance at St Mary's, it was evident that Dia's footballing talent was not half as good as his persuasive skills and his contract was teminated 14 days later. It's a fact that you cannot buy a player without scouting and another fact that this remains the greatest football blag to date. All hail Ali.

A special mention has to go to the 2007 transfer scandal that involved Argentine's Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano. European heavyweights such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus were interested in acquiring these pair and I am sure the money that was on the table was pretty healthy too. Everyone dreams of playing for the top European sides and when it was announced that they would be turning out in a West Ham shirt for the 2006/2007 season, it left everyone scratching their heads. It seemed too good to be true. Eventually the FA investigated, spotted the foul play and slapped a world record fine of £5.5m onto London club for their misdemeanours. Their time in London came to a swift end with Tevez venturing onto Manchester United and Mascherano rocking up north to Anfield.

Sol Campbell

As with Luis Figo it was the clubs involved that earned him a place on this list. Moving from Spurs to Arsenal is like a Russian defecting to the USA, only worse. There was once a day where he announced to magazine Spurs Monthly that he would never play for Arsenal. Oh how things changed. In the Summer of 2001 he left under the Bosman ruling and crossed the street to Highbury. What really rubs the salt into the wounds of Tottenham fans was that we enjoyed immediate success at the Gunners. In his first season with Arsenal (2001-2002) he achieved the league and FA Cup double. Could it get any worse for Spurs? Yes it could, in the iconic invincible season for Arsenal, they won the league at White Hart Lane. Ouch. At Arsenal he won 4 medals as well as an appearance in the 2006 Champions League Final. It's easy to see where Spurs fans come from, I would be pretty miffed if a top player moved from Manchester United to Manchester City... *Cough* Tevez *Cough*.

Andy Carroll

It seems so long ago that Andy Carroll was turning out at St James' Park for Newcastle every week, and I'm sure if he had known that things were to pan out this way then he would have stayed there a bit longer. It all started when Fernando Torres rocked Liverpool Football Club with his transfer request and that sent Kenny Dalglish on a mission to replace the Spaniard. We were thinking that they would go for someone European as they did with Torres, so when Andy Carroll was announced as the replacement on dead line day, there was a sense of confusion in the air. Unfortunately for Carroll, he was unable to live up to the £35m price that Liverpool paid for him. Injury plagued his time on Merseyside and was only able to score 11 goals in 58 appearances fro the Redmen. Eventually Brendan Rodgers decided to cut his losses and shipped Carroll out to West Ham.

Edgar Davids

In his prime Edgar Davids was a superb ball winning midfielder and was not phased by anyone, so when he moved to lowly Barnet in, it caught everyone off guard. For the Bees it was a massive coup, it generated more revenue through shirt sales and attracted bigger crowds to their matches. For Davids, it was one last hurrah in the lower tiers of English football. Most people would have thought that with his international experience and years playing at the top level of football, he would have guided the Bees to higher heights. Instead, Barnet were relegated to the Conference at  the end of the 2012/2013 season and he received a staggering 5 red cards and 13 yellow cards in 2 seasons. His move to Barnet was definitely a step down from the glorious heights of European football he experienced at Juventus.

Bebe

At Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson was renowned for buying young players and developing them into superstars, So when he bought Portuguese winger Bebe from Vitória de Guimarães in 2010 for £7.5m, we thought it was another masterstroke from the Glaswegian and we had another Ronaldo story on our hands. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Similar to Souness, Ferguson admitted to have done minimal scouting on the winger and his performances certainly showed that. Bebe was regularly dispatched on loan and after several mediocre seasons, he was sold to Benfica for €3m during the summer. To get that sum of money who didn't impress in his 7 appearances for the Red Devils, was quite staggering, I would have been impressed if they had got €1m for him. Bebe certainly rates as a baffling transfer and one of Fergie's worst blunders.

Fernando Hierro

Usually we associate Fernando Hierro as a great leader of men for Real Madrid and his goal scoring record wasn't bad for a centre back/defensive midfielder either, so when he signed for Bolton Wanderers along side Ivan Campo, we were left flabbergasted. Of course it was nice to see a household name arrive in England for a club other than the 'Big 4', and he tried to make an impact on the Reebok faithful. He made 29 appearances for The Trotters and scored a solitary goal in a 3-2 defeat at Norwich City. I'm sure fans from Bolton enjoyed the experience of having a footballing legend playing for them, and it was evident that he was liked both inside and outside the dressing room, particularly as manager Sam Allardyce and team mates attempted to persuade the Spaniard to extend his contract to no avail. He hung up his boots at the end of the season.  

Massimo Taibi

When Peter Schmeichel left for pastures anew at the end of Manchester United's treble winning season, Sir Alex Ferguson attempted at replacing the Great Dane with Massimo Taibi. Similar to Bebe, this has to rank as one of Fergie's most famous blunders. Ferguson threw him in at the deep end with his debut match coming against fierce rivals Liverpool. The debut jitters obviously got to him as he flapped at a free kick and allowed Sami Hyppia to score. Taibi became synonymous for his goalkeeping gaffe against Southampton where he let a pea rolling shot from Le Tissier squirm through his legs and into the back of the net. His other games weren't too fruitful as he conceded 5 in a drubbing against Chelsea and another 1 in a draw against Wimbledon. Overall he conceded 11 goals in 4 matches and never made another appearance in a red shirt again.     

I'd love to hear your suggestions on whose boots were to big or if anyone paid way over the odds for a player! As always I will probably have missed some blantantly obvious candidates.