Juventus drew 0-0 with 10-man AC Milan and qualified for the Italian Cup final through the away-goal rule as the classic on Friday reopened a season disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Bianconeri drew 1-1 in Milan in mid-February and the return leg was cancelled in early March as the country was about to begin a two-month lockdown.
At Turin’s Allianz Stadium, where fans were not allowed due to sanitary measures, Milan’s Andrea Conti handled the ball in a tackle with Cristiano Ronaldo, who fired the penalty awarded after video review against the post in the 16th.
One minute later Milan saw Ante Rebic red-carded for hitting Danilo in the chest with a stretched leg. The Croat, who scored in the first leg, was the Rossoneri’s lone striker as veteran Zlatan Ibrahimovic was suspended.
“It was important to qualify and now we’ll try to clinch the first target of the season,” Juve captain Leonardo Bonucci said. “It was hard to play after this long period and into the empty stadium.
“We started well then lost some of our compactness as Milan played a good game with 10 men. As to Ronaldo, the greats can also make mistakes. He was unlucky today but from now onwards we will see a great Juve and a great Ronaldo.
“We come from a dark moment for our lives and for the world. We hope we managed to bring some comfort to the people,” Bonucci added.
Juve controlled most of the game but never truly threatened despite efforts by Douglas Costa, Ronaldo, Blaise Matuidi, Paulo Dybala and Alex Sandro, while Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu and Simon Kjaer headed their chances wide.
The two sides had Black Lives Matter and No Racism written on their warm-up shirts and a minute’s silence was observed to honour the more than 34,000 Italians who died of Covid-19.
A doctor, a nurse and a social assistant stood at centre field while the homage was paid.
The game was played on the day Italy and Turkey were supposed to kick off Euro 2020 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. The European championship has been postponed to next year.
Napoli host Inter Milan in the other semi on Saturday with a 1-0 lead from the first leg. The cup final is set for Wednesday in Rome.
