Champions League: Juve finally win, Viola fall in Munich.

By: Francesco | October 21st, 2008

Juventus gained a morale boosting 2-1 win at the Stadio Olimpico vs. Real Madrid. The goals came from Alex Del Piero and Amauri, and now Juventus sit on top of their group with 7 points. Fiorentina weren’t as lucky today. La Viola suffered a 3-0 defeat at the Allianz Arena, and if they don’t start picking up points their dreams of qualifying for the knockout round will be over. More after the jump.

Claudio Ranieri can breathe a huge sigh of relief as the win over Real Madrid today will take a lot of weight off of his shoulders. The tactician has been under fire recently because of Juve’s string of bad results, but today he put out a squad that was motivated and wanted to win at all costs. Juventus started off great and took the lead after only 5 minutes through none other than Alessandro Del Piero. Amauri put a nice ball through for Pinturicchio, who took a shot from 25 yards out that sailed over Iker Casillas and into the net. The Stadio Olimpico erupted with joy. Juve played well the rest of the half (and lost Claudio Marchisio to injury, replaced by Hasan Salihamidzic) and went into the locker room up 1-0. After the break Juve struck again. In the 49th minute, Nedved intercepted and errant pass and burst down the left wing, putting in a cross for Amauri who got his head to it and with a little help from Heinze put it in the back of the net. Juve were up 2-0. Real Madrid then decided to fight back and took the game to Juve, who for most of the second half were inside their own half. They kept the game alive when Ruud Van Nistelrooy (virtually unmarked) headed a cross past Alex Manninger. 2-1. Juve however controlled the situation for the rest of the match and the Bianconeri took home the victory. For more on Juve, visit the Juventus Offside.

Fiorentina on the other hand were not so happy tonight. Luca Toni faced his beloved Viola for the first time since leaving in the summer of 2007. Bayern went up rather quickly, with Miroslav Klose putting the Bavarians ahead in the 4th minute. Felipe Melo had a good chance to draw level, but messed up the shot. Bayern went 2-0 up through Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Fiorentina looked like they would not be able to come back. The Viola had their chances though, the problem was they wasted all of them. With some better finishing they might have mounted a challenge. In the 90th minute Ze Roberto sealed the victory with a goal that made it 3-0. Klinsmann’s Bayern got the 3 points, and now Fiorentina face a tough task to qualify for the knockout stage. Bayern are top with 7 points, while Lyon are second with 5 points. Fiorentina have 2, and Steaua have 1. Fiorentina play Bayern at home on the next matchday, and really need to get points (a victory would be ideal) to keep their hopes alive, especially since Lyon will play Steaua at home. Fiorentina then travel to Romania to take on Steaua and then will finish off the group at home vs Lyon, which may be a very important game depending on how it goes. For more on Fiorentina, read the Fiorentina Offside.

In tomorrow’s action, Roma face a tough task against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, while Inter take on Cypriots Anorthosis Famagusta.