Ronaldo double gives Juventus Cup edge over Inter
Cristiano Ronaldo scored doubly Juventus came from behind to beat Inter Milan 2-1 at the San Siro within their Italian Cup semi-final primary leg on Tuesday.
Record 13-time winners Juve will end up being favourites to reach a sixth final found in seven years if they bid to complete the job in the return video game in Turin subsequent Tuesday.
"This is merely the primary leg, we haven't achieved anything yet," Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo told RAI Sport.
"What this will prove is definitely that if we happen to be fully concentrated, it becomes difficult for anybody against us."
Inter, who beat Juventus 2-0 previous month in Serie A good, have it all to do to keep their expectations of lifting an initial Italian Cup since 2011 alive.
"It was an essential meet, the Serie A casino game showed Inter are far from an easy area to handle," Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot said.
"The tie isn't over yet, there's another leg to go and which will be even tougher than that one."
Holders Napoli sponsor Atalanta in the next last-four first leg on Wednesday.
Inter made a good flying begin in the ninth minute, due to Lautaro Martinez got before Matthijs de Ligt to meet up Nicolo Barella's low cross, sweeping a right-footed finish in to the net despite Gianluigi Buffon obtaining a hands to the shot.
But Juventus were given a way back to the tie midway through the earliest half.
Juan Cuadrado, who was simply making a run into the box away the ball, happened by Ashley Little, with VAR deeming that the visitors ought to be awarded a penalty.
Ronaldo did the others, hammering the spot-kick into the roof of the net to score his 21st target of the season.
Juventus completed the first-half turnaround found in the 35th minute, as a terrible mix-up between Alessandro Bastoni and Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic allowed Ronaldo to slide found in his second objective from a good angle.
Inter, missing top-scorer Romelu Lukaku through suspension, must have equalised 11 a few minutes after half-time, but Alexis Sanchez's shot was brilliantly cleared off the line by Merih Demiral.
The hosts held pushing for an equaliser, with Martinez curling narrowly more than after Buffon's sensible save kept out Matteo Darmian from point-blank range.
Ronaldo was visibly frustrated to be replaced by Alvaro Morata with 14 minutes remaining, but Pirlo said he wanted to keep his key participant fresh for Sunday's league meet against Roma.
"I understand that Ronaldo wasn't happy at appearing substituted, nonetheless it was only to rest him for the upcoming Serie A casino game, even if just a short while," he added.
Inter coach Antonio Conte threw in Christian Eriksen, who scored a late winner in the last eight against AC Milan, however the home side failed to create another clear-cut prospect.
"We'd Juve on the ropes, it's really disappointing, because we deserved much, very much, much more than the final result," bemoaned Conte.
