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| Andrea Pirlo taking the free kick that gave Juventus the win |
Juventus was going to Florence with a weak result in the first leg, a 1-1 with goals from Arturo Vidal and Mario Gomez. Fiorentina even had some chances to win the match and be the first team to beat the Bianconeri at the Juventus Stadium this season but Buffon denied the visitors in the last few minutes. Fiorentina had already proven being a tough match up for Juventus earlier on the season when they beat them 4-2 in October, which is so far the only defeat Juve had in Serie A this season. This was the third time the two teams were meeting in the past ten days as Juventus also beat the Viola at home 1-0 in their Serie A meeting at the Juventus Stadium.
The match started in a similar way first tie ended. Juventus was struggling to keep the ball and Fiorentina were the ones keeping possession for the first twenty minutes or so but without generating any real danger. Mario Gomez had a one on one versus Buffon that he finished poorly but aside from that it were long range shoots from the German and one from Ilicic the only way Fiorentina got somewhat close to opening the scoreline. After that the match became a bit closer. Pirlo became more active in midfield and Juventus improved and starting creating some opportunities in Fiorentina’s goal. Tevez had some shots that were easily controlled by Neto and Pogba was close with a header but there weren’t serious opportunities from neither Juventus nor Fiorentina.
The second half started with Juventus attacking right from the start looking for the goal they needed to advance. They managed to dominate the ball more than in the first half but with no creativity in the last quarter. Vidal tried with a long range effort and was close with a header but Neto wasn’t really tested. Meanwhile Fiorentina was close with a shot from Cuadrado that was well saved by Buffon and Valero wasted a great opportunity sending a free kick right outside the box straight into Buffon hands. Slowly Juventus started to take control of the match and pushing Fiorentina deep into their box. In the 70th minute Llorente was fouled right outside of the box by Gonzalo Rodriguez. The Fiorentina defender received a second yellow card (the previous one was in the first half for a foul on Tevez) and left his side with 10 men on the field. Pirlo executed the free kick brilliantly and gave Juventus the goal they desperately needed. Just like in their last Serie A match against Genoa, it was a free kick from the the 35 year old giving Juventus the lead when they were struggling to create opportunities. After that, things got much easier for the Bianconeri, they dominated the ball and Fiorentina, now with 10 men, could barely cross midfield. Llorente and Lichsteiner (who came in for Isla) were very close to scoring the second goal but Neto, by now the man of the match, denied both with brilliant saves. At that point Fiorentina looked hopeless and although a goal would have sent the match to extra time it looked like they weren’t even trying. Juventus cruised the last few minutes keeping possession with an occasional shot on goal and Fiorentina were never close to scoring aside from a weak long range shot from Aquilani that Buffon dominated easily.
Juventus are now two ties away fromr reaching the final that will be played in their stadium on May the 14th. Their quarter final rival will be Lyon, who reached this instance after beating Viktoria Plzen 5-3 in the global. After the Champions League fiasco, it’ll be important for the Bianconeri to have a great performance in the competition and keep gaining international experience for future success in the Champions League.
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