UCL: Juve book last-eight spot

Juventus have secured their spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after recording a 1-0 win over 10-man Porto in Tuesday night’s last-16 second leg in Turin.
Twice Juventus had opportunities to make the breakthrough in the opening three minutes, but Higuain headed wide of the post from outside the Porto box, before Dybala fired over the crossbar from close range after breaking through.
Dybala had another shooting chance for Juventus in the seventh minute after finding a yard of space outside the Porto box, but the Argentine’s effort just moved wide of the far post.
Tiquinho Soares had Porto’s first attempt on target in the 10th minute as the match began to open up, but the striker’s effort was always comfortable for veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Mandzukic was next to come close for Juventus in the 23rd minute after meeting a brilliant cross from Juan Cuadrado, but the striker’s header was saved by Iker Casillas, who kept hold of the ball under pressure from Higuain.
Clear opportunities were few and far between in the opening 40 minutes of action, but the first period ended on a high for Juventus and a real low for Porto, who had experienced defender Maxi Pereira sent off for stopping a goal-bound Higuain strike with his hand.
Indeed, the referee was quick to point to the penalty spot and it was Dybala that stepped forward to send Juventus ahead with a brilliant spot kick as the Italian champions took a 3-0 aggregate lead.
Both managers made alterations at the interval, with Marko Pjaca taking the place of Cuadrado, while Willy Boly was introduced for Porto in place of the highly-rated Andre Silva, who struggled in the opening 45 minutes.
Porto had a wonderful chance to level the scores in the 49th minute when Soares’s pace took him clear of the Juventus defence and into a shooting position, but the striker could only curl his effort wide of the far post.
Tomas Rincon replaced Dybala in the 78th minute as the Argentine’s work for the night came to an end, and it was his goal that separated the two teams entering the final 10 minutes of the last-16 tie in Turin.
Diogo Jota came closest to netting a consolation for Porto late on, but the substitute could only find the side-netting after managing to lift the ball over the advancing Buffon.
In the end, Juventus never really needed to break sweat on the night as the Italian champions joined the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the draw for the quarter-finals.