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The Latest: Juventus does it, will face Barcelona in final

May 13, 2015, 1:48 PM

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal runs during a training session at the Valdebeba...

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal runs during a training session at the Valdebebas Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, May 12, 2015. Real Madrid will play against Juventus in a second leg semifinal Champions League soccer match on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

(AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

MADRID (AP) — The Latest from the Champions League semifinal match between Real Madrid and Juventus at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium:

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10:40 p.m.

Juventus has done it, and up next is Lionel Messi and his Barcelona teammates.

Alvaro Morata scored the deciding goal against his former team, giving Juventus a 1-1 draw at Real Madrid and 3-2 aggregate victory after the two legs.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored both goals for his team, one in each leg, but it wasn’t enough to send the 10-time European Cup champions back to the final.

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10:25 p.m.

To a standing ovation, Juventus playmaker Andrea Pirlo strolls off for a well-deserved rest, replaced by Andrea Barzagli.

The 35-year-old Pirlo used his veteran wiles to pick his moments and not overexert himself in the Spanish heat, limiting his range of action to the very center of the field to protect the Juventus back four and choose his moments to try to play its strikers through.

Madrid, the defending champions, are 10 minutes away from being bounced out of the tournament if they don’t score again.

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10:18 p.m.

Gareth Bale’s misses are leaving Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti bewildered.

Bale had two superb chances to put Madrid back in front against Juventus, but both missed the mark.

Disappointing from soccer’s most expensive player.

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10:08 p.m.

Former Real Madrid player Alvaro Morata struck a terrible blow to his former club, scoring the goal that put Juventus ahead 3-2 on aggregate and put the pressure to score back on Madrid.

Midfielder Paul Pogba did well to head the ball to the 22-year-old Spaniard, who moved to Juventus seeking a more regular place in the starting lineup.

Alvaro chested down the ball and shot hard with his left foot. The ball ricocheted off the turf to dent Iker Casillas’ 150th Champions League game defending the Madrid goal.

Seemingly to avoid antagonizing his former club, Alvaro was muted in celebrations.

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10:01 p.m.

GOAL! Juventus. Former Real Madrid forward Alvaro Morata scores for Juventus in the 57th minute. It’s 1-1 now, and Juventus leads 3-2 on aggregate.

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9:50 p.m.

The second half has started, and Juventus needs to score.

Real Madrid took a 1-0 lead when Cristiano Ronaldo converted from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute. That gave the 10-time champions the lead on aggregate because of Ronaldo’s away goal in Turin last week.

If Juventus fails to score in the next 45 minutes, Madrid will be playing old foe Barcelona in the Champions League final on June 6 in Berlin.

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9:38 p.m.

It was a pulsating first half, with Real Madrid on top because of Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty.

Juventus is winning the battle in the midfield, with Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal are providing the main threat, but losing it everywhere else.

Juventus striker Carlos Tevez, a major threat for the Italian champions in the 2-1 win in the first leg, is being handled well by Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane.

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9:33 p.m.

It’s halftime, and it’s Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty that has given Real Madrid the lead over Juventus in the Champions League semifinals.

Madrid is beating Juventus 1-0, and with Ronaldo’s away goal from the first leg, that means Madrid will advance to the final is the score stays this way.

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9:27 p.m.

Karim Benzema’s running and understanding with Cristiano Ronaldo has made a big difference for Real Madrid so far.

Benzema is back in the starting lineup at the Santiago Bernabeu after missing the first leg with a knee sprain.

But still, Ronaldo was furious with himself when he squandered a chance to put Madrid further ahead. The Portugal winger failed to get a shot away when Benzema passed him the ball in space on the left of Gianluigi Buffon’s box.

Ronaldo then slapped his fist against the Juventus post.

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9:17 p.m.

While the Juventus players argued the penalty with the referee, Real Madrid’s players smartly took the chance to quench their thirst in the oppressive heat, drinking some water.

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9:13 p.m.

Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson showed not a moment’s hesitation in awarding Real Madrid the penalty when Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini kneed James Rodriguez from behind, bringing down the Colombian.

Despite missing a penalty over the weekend, Cristiano Ronaldo put the ball straight past diving goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

The goal levels the aggregate score at 2-2 but for the moment Madrid is going through to face Barcelona in the final on June 6 because of Ronaldo’s away goal in the first leg.

The goal is Ronaldo’s 77th in the Champions League, putting him level again with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi at the top of the all-time scoring chart.

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9:09 p.m.

GOAL! Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo scores from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute to give Real Madrid a 1-0 lead over Juventus. That makes it 2-2 on aggregate, with Madrid leading by an away goal.

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9:03 p.m.

Iker Casillas dives left and at full stretch keeps out a shot from Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal, getting the veteran goalkeeper off to a good start in his 150th Champions League game for Real Madrid.

The World Cup winner has been out of sorts ever since former coach Jose Mourinho benched him in his last season with the club. That divided fans into pro- and anti-Iker camps, and the antis raised their voice with a shower of jeers when Casillas conceded two goals over the weekend.

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8:56 p.m.

Karim Benzema had the best chance of the 10 opening minutes. The Real Madrid striker controlled the ball with his right foot but then took his shot with his left, leaving Gianluigi Buffon untroubled in the Juventus goal.

Blame a touch of rust, perhaps, after a spell out recovering from a knee strain.

Cristiano Ronaldo also had a chance, shooting a long-range free kick over the top of the goal.

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8:47 p.m.

What an amazing scene at kickoff. The whole stadium decked out in Real Madrid white, purple and yellow and a giant banner showing the club’s 10 European Cups.

Placido Domingo’s “Hala Madrid!” (Come on Madrid!) rang out and the crowd belted out the name of Cristiano Ronaldo, followed by an imitation of the forward’s guttural scream with which he celebrated his Ballon d’Or award.

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8:46 p.m.

Here we go again.

Real Madrid kicked off first against Juventus in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals. Juventus won the first leg 2-1, but Cristiano Ronaldo’s away goal in Turin could make a huge difference tonight.

Madrid, a 10-time European Cup champion, can advance to the final on June 6 against Barcelona with a 1-0 victory.

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8:29 p.m.

UEFA spokesman Jorge Zamarano tells The Associated Press there will be no heat breaks during the match to allow players to drink water.

There were rumors going around that UEFA would allow the breaks because the temperature in Madrid soared to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday.

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8:24 p.m.

The Juventus faithful, several thousand fans, are tucked into nose-bleed seats in the fourth and fifth decks of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, protected by mesh netting against any hurled objects.

They burst into cheers as the side came out for warm-ups.

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8:01 p.m.

The return of midfielder Paul Pogba gives Juventus an additional scoring threat going forward.

Fifty-two days after tearing a right thigh muscle at Borussia Dortmund in another Champions League match, Pogba played for an hour on Saturday in a 1-1 draw against Cagliari and scored his team’s lone goal before being substituted.

The 22-year-old Fremchman has only one Champions League goal to his name but tonight is his chance to prove to Europe why he interests some of the continent’s biggest clubs.

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7:50 p.m.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri has dynamic midfielder Paul Pogba back in his starting lineup after the France international missed almost two months with a thigh-muscle tear.

Also, Stefano Sturaro has been dropped to the bench. Otherwise, an unchanged team after the 2-1 win in the first leg.

Juventus lineup: Gianluigi Buffon; Stephan Lichtsteiner, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Patrice Evra; Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio, Paul Pogba, Arturo Vidal; Carlos Tevez, Alvaro Morata.

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7:45 p.m.

The return of Karim Benzema from a knee injury should comfort Cristiano Ronaldo, who has a strong rapport with the France striker. In 58 Champions League starts, Benzema has 42 goals and 18 assists.

Gareth Bale completes the attack. In the first leg, the speedy winger was a peripheral figure, completing only 16 of 19 passes, fewer than even goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

In the midfield, Toni Kroos will be the anchor. The World Cup winner with Germany gave Madrid a scare on Saturday when he limped off the field touching his left thigh, but he is starting against Juventus.

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7:28 p.m.

Real Madrid will start with striker Karim Benzema, recently returned from a knee injury, on the field and move Sergio Ramos back into defense after his ho-hum role in midfield in the first leg.

Raphael Varane is favored over Pepe alongside Ramos at the back.

Real Madrid lineup: Iker Casillas; Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Toni Kroos, James Rodriguez, Isco; Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo.

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7:12 p.m.

Several hundred very loud Real Madrid fans twirling scarves and tossing firecrackers greet the team’s arrival by bus with clouds of pink and purple smoke from lit flares.

Mounted officers and a police chopper overhead escort the defending champions to the stadium.

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7:09 p.m.

As the world’s richest club, Real Madrid can splash out not just on very expensive players but also polished videos to make them look good.

This video, the club says, shows the team whiling away the final hours to tonight’s match by working out together in a Real Madrid gym.

Not explained: why the opening shot lingers on two jugs of orange juice.

Enjoy.

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6:55 p.m.

Fans congregating at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, who have been coping with a sudden heat wave by drinking copious amounts of beer and gin-and-tonics, have good reason to expect a more intense, high-energy encounter than the other semifinal match.

Last night’s game was drained of suspense as Barcelona built up a four-goal lead over Bayern Munich before eventually advancing 5-3 on aggregate.

Tonight, two-time European Cup champion Juventus is nursing a 2-1 lead from the first leg. But Madrid has that away goal, so a 1-0 victory would put the 10-time champions through to their 14th final — and their first against massive rival Barcelona in this competition.

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6:48 p.m.

The heat in Madrid could pose problems for Juventus’ aging stars.

Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo is 35, and left back Patrice Evra is 33. Will their legs hold out?

In another notoriously warm game, Pirlo did last the full 90 minutes when Italy beat England in the sweaty Amazon jungle city of Manaus at the 2014 World Cup.

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6:39 p.m.

It’s hot, very, very hot, in Madrid tonight as Juventus gets set to play Real Madrid for a spot in the Champions League final against Barcelona.

The sudden, unseasonal heat wave has driven the thermometer up to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).

Even as the sun starts to dip, there is no respite from the heat for fans gathering outside the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium for the second leg of the semifinals.

Juventus heads into the match leading 2-1 from the first leg.

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The Latest: Juventus does it, will face Barcelona in final