Juventus manager Claudio Ranieri has hailed the efforts of his side after last night's success in Madrid. "Winning 2-0 at the Bernabeu is nothing to be sniffed at. We have returned to our best over the past 15 days and the first leg victory gave us back the self-confidence we had lost.

"The usual suspects will start insulting me again the moment we are defeated! Don't worry about that." Juventus went into the clash without Gianluigi Buffon, David Trezeguet, Christian Poulsen, Cristiano Zanetti, Zdenek Grygera and Hasan Salihamidzic, but the players on the park have been able to pull together in recent weeks.

"We're in an emergency situation, but it is wonderful to see how every player works for the team and these are the results."