Juventus moved to within 90 minutes of a first Champions League final since 2003 courtesy of a 2-1 victory in the first leg of their last-four clash with Real Madrid this evening.
The Italian champions remain on course for the treble this season going into the second leg at the Bernabeu next week, while Madrid need to win in the Spanish capital to stand any chance of continuing the defence of their crown.
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The hosts came flying out of the blocks in Turin, putting Madrid under heavy early pressure with Arturo Vidal, Stefano Sturaro and Alvaro Morata all threatening Iker Casillas's goal in the opening exchanges.
They made their early dominance count too, taking the lead through Morata in the eighth minute as the Spaniard tapped home unmarked at the back post after Casillas could only tip a powerful low Carlos Tevez effort into the striker's path.
Morata refused to celebrate against his former club, but his current employers showed little mercy as they continued their fast start to the tie.
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Gianluigi Buffon needed to get down smartly to tip a Toni Kroos drive past the post, but the visitors were soon on the back foot once again as Sergio Ramos gave the ball away cheaply, only to have his blushes spared by an offside flag raised against a prone Sturaro.
Cristiano Ronaldo's first real sight of goal did not come until the 24th minute when he dragged an effort wide of the far post having beaten the offside trap, while moments later down the other end Stephan Lichtsteiner sliced his shot past the near post when well placed.
That miss would prove to be costly as Madrid levelled things up against the run of play just a couple of minutes later. James Rodriguez looped a cross over a helpless Buffon, leaving Ronaldo with the simplest of finishes to nod home a record 76th Champions League goal, nine of which have come in semi-finals.
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The equaliser turned the match in Madrid's favour and they should have gone into the break ahead after James somehow sent a diving header crashing against the crossbar from point-blank range with the whole goal to aim at.
Juve attempted to make a similarly fast start to the second half as they did in the first, with Tevez drawing a routine stop from Casillas in the opening minutes.
It was the Argentine who created and scored Juve's second goal, with the Italian champions hitting Madrid on the break to regain their advantage. Tevez burst forward on the counter-attack and, despite Morata being felled off the ball by Marcelo, continued his run and eventually drew the foul from Dani Carvajal inside the box.
The hosts' calls for a red card went unheeded by referee Martin Atkinson, but Tevez ensured that there would be further punishment by firing straight down the middle from the penalty spot for his seventh Champions League goal of the season - more than he had managed in his previous five campaigns combined.
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Carlo Ancelotti responded to that setback by bringing on quarter-final hero Javier Hernandez, and the Mexican striker almost made an immediate impact when he flicked the ball just beyond Ronaldo sliding in at the back post.
The visitors continued to apply the pressure as the match wore on, but Juventus seemed content to settle for a one-goal advantage to take back to the Spanish capital next week.
It could have been even better for the hosts when Raphael Varane failed to cut out a long ball forward down the right channel, but Fernando Llorente was forced too far wide by Casillas and saw his subsequent cut-back intercepted by the backtracking defenders.
Hernandez then fizzed a low ball into a dangerous area at the other end which flew through to safety, before Llorente spurned a glorious chance to double his side's advantage with a header at the back post that lacked power.
An open ending to the match brought about no further goals, however, as Juventus held out to pick up a 2-1 victory that puts the tie narrowly in their favour ahead of the second leg.
Barney Corkhill
