Arturo Vidal’s unstoppable penalty gave Juventus a narrow 1-0 advantage in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final with Monaco in Turin.
The Chile international showed nerves of steel as he crashed home a second-half spot kick to give the Old Lady a slender lead to take to France.
The Bianconeri named their second oldest starting line-up in Champions League history and found that they needed to call upon all of that experience as patience became the key to unlocking one of the meanest defences in this season’s competition.
Both Carlos Tevez and Vidal wasted gilt-edged chances in a lively first period while at the other end Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco shot straight at Gianluigi Buffon when it had looked easier to score. The pacy Anthony Martial also had a penalty shout waved away as the visitors remained a threat on the counter attack.
Monaco’s rearguard action illustrated once again why they had conceded just four Champions League goals heading to Turin, but they were eventually undone on 57 minutes.
The returning Andrea Pirlo clipped a lovely pass over the defence for Alvaro Morata who had his heels taken right on the edge of the area by Ricardo Carvalho. After some commotion the referee eventually pointed to the spot and Vidal stepped up to slam the penalty high into the top corner with Danijel Subasic diving the opposite way.
Substitute Dimitar Berbatov almost headed a late equaliser for the visitors but Juventus held on for what could be a crucial clean sheet on a night when they were not at their best.