Real Madrid have solidified their hold on first place on UEFA Champions League Group B, earning a credible draw away to Juventus.
While a draw isn’t a great result for the hosts, they’re still in with a solid chance of going through to the next round.
Iker Casillas was forced into a couple of saves in the first 30 minutes.
His first came in the 17th minute and prevented an own goal when a cross deflected off Pepe, forcing him into a tough stop.
The save he made in the 28th minute was even better.
Carlos Tevez set up Claudio Marchisio for a header with a great cross, but Marchisio was denied by a Casillas kick save.
Madrid seemed to grow frustrated with Juve’s control of the match as the half wore on.
Luka Modric picked up a yellow card for a rash tackle on Paul Pogba in the 35th minute and he’ll be suspended for Madrid’s next Champions League match.
Six minutes later, Pogba drew another big foul, this time leading to Juve’s opening goal.
Raphael Varane appeared to make a clean tackle on Pogba in the penalty area, but caught the Juventus midfielder with his trailing leg and Howard Webb pointed to the penalty spot.
Arturo Vidal stepped up and blasted a shot into the top corner, sending the bianconeri into halftime with a deserved lead.
Juventus were superb in the opening minutes of the second half until a terrible giveaway by Martin Caceres led to Real Madrid’s first goal.
He hit what should have been a simple backpass off a Madrid player, turning it into a perfect through ball for Cristiano Ronaldo, who made the most of the chance and beat Gianluigi Buffon one-on-one.
The ensuing 15 minutes were end-to-end, with both teams scoring another goal and creating chances to score many more.
Xabi Alonso hit the crossbar in the 56th minute with a brilliant drive, which was quickly followed up by a pair of Juventus chances that saw Casillas make a stop off a short-range effort by Marchisio and Pepe clear Pogba’s follow-up off the line.
Ronaldo latched onto a ball over the top of midfield from Marcelo, he squared for Bale, who created enough space between two Juventus defenders to shoot and place a perfect finish past Buffon.
It looked like the game might have turned for good at that point, but Fernando Llorente came up with a stunning answer in the 65th minute.
Caceres redeemed himself a bit with a very accurate cross towards the head of Llorente, who leaned forward to get on the end of the ball and nod in the equalizer.
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