Kvitova struggles Injured Oscar again in Madrid ruled out of Copa 17 America WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015 18 Slick Arsenal top style charts, not the league Page 19

JuventusJuventus hanghang onon toto stunstun RealReal

TURIN: Juventus players celebrate at the end of the Champions League, semifinal soccer match between Juventus and Real Madrid.Juventus won 2-1. —AP TURIN: Alvaro Morata and Carlos Tevez struck a they bid to secure a second consecutive final. Given he spent several years at the Santiago counter to help set up Tevez for Claudio Marchisio Carlo Ancelotti to replace Isco with Javier goal apiece as Juventus boosted their Champions However Juve, who last appeared in the last Bernabeu, claiming a winners’ medal from last to test Casillas with a daisycutter from 20 metres Hernandez and a three-forward set-up. Minutes lat- League final chances with a 2-1 win over Real four in 2003 when they were beaten by AC Milan in year’s competition, Morata kept his celebrations to that shaved the upright. er, Allegri brought a tactical change of his own, Madrid in their first leg semi-final yesterday. the final, will feel confident of causing an upset himself. It was the dream start for the hosts and for Yet Real’s threat was ever-present. Minutes defender Andrea Barzagli coming in for left-sided Morata, who moved from Real to Juventus last against the record 10-time and defending champi- the first 26 minutes Real struggled to find their before the interval James saw his diving header Stefano Sturaro. summer, tapped home the rebound from a Tevez ons. “I would have signed for that result at the start rhythm. The visitors’ best chance of the game thus from Isco’s delivery on the left smack off the cross- Real finally got into their stride but by this time strike on eight minutes to send Juventus Stadium of the match,” said Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri. far was a 30-metre pile driver from Toni Kroos that bar. As Buffon scrambled to get back into position Juve were switching from a 3-5-2 to a 5-3-2 when into raptures. Morata, meanwhile, told Sky Sport: “We will have to pushed to safety. the follow-up went just over. required, stopping an increasingly potent Real tide The hosts were pegged back just before the play the perfect game at the Bernabeu. Above all, However a lapse of concentration from Juve Real, however, paid the price for pushing up the at every turn. half-hour thanks to ’s 76th goal in we have to believe we’ve done nothing yet.” proved costly, James Rodriguez doing great while park and packing the Juve area at a corner 13 min- Allegri replaced Morata towards the end with the competition, a simple header that beat Allegri opted for a 4-3-1-2 fomation with Morata under pressure to the right of goal to lob over a utes after the restart. When Marcelo’s drive was Llorente, and the big Spaniard was unlucky on two Gianluigi Buffon from close range. beating Spanish compatriot Fernando Llorente to cross which found Ronaldo somehow unmarked a charged down it sparked a counter-attack by Tevez occasions. Llorente’s pace took him past Casillas But the Turin giants were back in front when the second striker’s spot alongside Tevez. metre out to nod past Buffon for a 27th minute and Morata, the latter winning a penalty after tum- after the keeper ran out to clear, but there were no Tevez beat Iker Casillas from the penalty spot on 57 It proved a judicious choice. Juve raced out of equaliser. bling under contact from Raphael Varane. Tevez takers from his cutback deep on the right byeline. minutes after he was felled in the area. the traps and after just eight minutes Morata sent The goal literally silenced the crowd, but the stepped up to slam the ball past Casillas on 57 min- Llorente came close again at the death when he Real host Juventus on May 13 when they will the stadium wild with a simple tap-in after Casillas Bianconeri were far from beaten. Juve took back utes to electrify the stadium once again. connected with a free kick on the left only for look to make their precious away goal count as pushed Tevez’s drive into his path at the back post. control after the half hour, Pirlo stopping a Real The hosts continued to threaten, prompting Casillas to scramble and collect. —-AFP Barcelona attack on fire, Maradona says, questions over defence time for ‘anarchy’ BARCELONA: While there may still be a ques- of Europe’s elite club competition two years to end at FIFA tion mark over treble-chasing Barcelona’s ago. The rampant German champions won defence, their fearsome attacking trident is the first leg in Munich 4-0 and the return 3-0, DEAD SEA: Argentina’s World Cup winning captain Diego firing on all cylinders ahead of Bayern the heaviest two-legged European defeat in Maradona launched a blistering attack on FIFA president Munich’s visit in the Champions League semi- Barca’s history, and Bayern went on to beat Sepp Blatter on Monday saying that world soccer’s gov- finals today. rivals Borussia Dortmund in the erning body had descended into anarchy with the 79- The South American trio of , first all-German final. year-old Swiss in charge. With the FIFA presidential elec- Neymar and Luis Suarez reached a scorching “It was a fantastic experience, we played tion less than a month away, Maradona, one of the great- 108 goals for the season following the La Liga brilliantly and astonished the football world,” est players to ever grace the game and the inspiration leaders’ 8-0 destruction of Cordoba on forward Thomas Mueller said on Bayern’s behind Argentina’s 1986 World Cup victory, said the time Saturday, eight more than the previous club website (www.fcbayern.de) on Sunday. was long overdue for Blatter to go. record set by Messi, Samuel Eto’o and Thierry “We know their strengths and above all He said he would do all he could to help Prince Ali Bin Henry when Barca won the treble in 2009. they have world-class players up front,” added Al Hussein win the election, even though the 39-year-old Argentina captain Messi is on 51 goals in the Germany international. “As a defender, to Jordanian royal hinted on Monday he might consider all competitions, Uruguay striker Suarez, try to stop one of Messi’s dribbles is not the pulling out of the contest if he thought one of the other whose ban for biting an opponent at last most comfortable experience.” two challengers could win. year’s World Cup finals expired at the end of Both clubs have changed coaches since In a syndicated interview with Guillem Balague, the October, has 24, and Brazil forward Neymar 2012-13, with Luis Enrique in charge at Barca moderator at the Soccerex Asian Forum at the King 33. With a defence that has looked shaky at in place of Tito Vilanova, who succumbed to Hussein convention centre, some 60 kilometres from the times this season, however, Barca’s hopes of cancer last year, and former Barca player and Jordanian capital Amman, Maradona pulled no punches reaching next month’s Champions League coach Pep Guardiola at the Bayern helm. “We and gave his backing to the Jordanian royal. final at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium may hinge are armed and ready,” Mueller said. “The Asked why he replied: “If I didn’t believe that he would on them scoring more goals than they coach knows this team better than any other. be a good president, I wouldn’t be here. “As the football inevitably concede. He’ll give us a game plan, but the rest is up to world knows, inside FIFA there is total anarchy, where The Catalan giants have most of the same us players.” there is only one man who decides everything. “But he knows absolutely nothing. Therefore it is time for a personnel at the back, including the likes of Four-time winners Barca are seeking their change. And it is so because even his colleagues should Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Dani Alves and Marc eighth final appearance and five-times cham- actually advise him to leave.” Bartra, as when they crashed to a humiliating pions Bayern, who host the return leg the fol- Maradona, 54, who was voted along with Pele the 7-0 aggregate defeat to Bayern in the last four lowing Tuesday, their 11th. — Reuters joint-best player of the 20th century by FIFA in 2000, said he believed that the continued presence of Blatter, who is seeking a fifth term as president, would continue to harm Pep under pressure at Bayern football. “He has done a lot of damage to football since he BERLIN: Pep Guardiola is struggling to deal on the sidelines shows he is struggling with has been there. It’s time for him to step aside and let us, with the pressure of winning the Champions the pressure to bring a sixth European title to who are full of strength, renovate football.” League with Bayern Munich ahead of today’s Bayern. Maradona played in the World Cups of 1982, 1986, semi-final at Barcelona, according to ex- Guardiola has raised a few eyebrows dur- 1990 and 1994 and later coached Argentina to the World Germany captain Stefan Effenberg. Munich ing his second season at Bayern by hugging Cup quarter-finals of 2010. have won back-to-back German league titles the fourth official following heated He implied he was unhappy about way things were under Guardiola, but the 44-year-old recently exchanges in Bayern’s league win over done at FIFA, particularly regarding the choice of Russia insisted that only the treble of Champions Schalke last February and again in their and Qatar for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals. League, Bundesliga and German Cup titles is German Cup semi-final defeat to Dortmund “First we didn’t know where the World Cup was going enough to satisfy Bayern’s appetite. last week. to be held. Then we found out that after Brazil it was The Spaniard will make his first return to The Spaniard spends most of each match Russia and then Qatar. “Without any doubt whatsoever the Camp Nou for Wednesday’s first leg since passionately encouraging his players from Blatter is scared. Blatter is scared. He’s scared of being left winning 14 titles in four years with Barcelona the sidelines, much to Effenberg’s disap- out of his share of the cake,” Maradona said. before resigning in 2012. proval. “I am not a fan of Guardiola’s extreme “That is what really annoys someone like me, who has Ex-Bayern star Effenberg, 46, says coaching during games,” he told German SPAIN: Bayern Munich’s coach Pep Guardiola (left) and Xavi Alonso attend a training session played in four World Cups. I was chasing the ball, Blatter is Guardiola’s occasionally eccentric behaviour magazine Kicker. —AFP at the Camp Nou stadium. Barcelona will play against Bayern Munich in a first leg semifinal chasing champagne.” — Reuters Champions League soccer match today. — AP