Arturo Vidal fires Juventus to narrow win over Monaco

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.

Pre-match: Andrea Pirlo returns to the heart of the Juventus midfield for the first time since suffering a calf strain against Borussia Dortmund on February 24. The Italian maestro is joined in the starting ix by Carlos Tevez, who has been rested recently. The former Man City striker will partner Alvaro Morata in attack. However, talisman Paul Pogba is out injured. As for Monaco, captain Jeremy Toulalan is only fit enough for the bench with Fabinho taking his spot. Ricardo Carvalho starts instead of Wallace while Anthony Martial is preferred to Dimitar Berbatov in attack.

5' - JUVENTUS CHANCE! Pirlo lifts a delicious pass into the run of Morata on the left of the area, but the striker's volley flashes way over the top from a narrow angle.

10' - MONACO CHANCE! Monaco should be ahead. A scintillating run down the left from Anthony Martial ends with a cutback for Yannick Ferreira Carrasco who fires straight at Buffon from eight yards out. Great reflexes by the Italian but he shouldn't have had a sniff.

26' - JUVENTUS CHANCE! Claudio Marchisio curls a delicious inswinging cross from the left to the far spot for Tevez who side-foots his weak volley straight at the keeper.

39' - MONACO PENALTY SHOUT! Martial races onto a long pass down the left and gets one-on-one with Giorgio Chiellini. The forward rampages past the Italian and goes down in the area... no penalty says the referee. Both players had hands on each other but it was clumsy from Chiellini.

45' - JUVENTUS CHANCE! Big miss! Tevez releases Vidal on the left of the area but the Chilean leans back and curls his effort over the crossbar.

54' - MONACO CHANCE! Subasic's throw sets up a lightning Monaco break which eventually puts Silva in on the left of the area. But the substitute drills his shot towards the near post and Buffon pushes it away.

57' - GOAL! JUVENTUS 1-0 MONACO. Vidal steps up and fires an unstoppable spot kick into the top corner with Subasic diving the opposite way. The referee pointed to spot after Morata was clipped by Carvalho following a sublime pass from Pirlo. It was close call and looked to have occurred on the very edge of the box.

72' - MONACO CHANCE! Berbatov meets a left-wing corner but guides his header just past the far upright. So close.

Juventus' starting XI was the 2nd oldest for the Bianconeri in their Champions League history (average age 30 years 64 days).

Arturo Vidal found the net after 8 Champions League games without scoring (since his hat-trick in Nov 2013 vs FC Copenhagen).

Juventus have lost only one of their last seven games against French opponents (W4, D2).

Juventus are unbeaten at home against French opponents. They have won 11 of 13 games (D2).

Monaco have scored only two goals in seven away games against Italian sides.

(Stats courtesy of Opta and Infostrada)

Can Juventus end a 19-year wait? The Old Lady are a class above in Serie A but often flatter to deceive on the European stage. There's still much to do in this tie but the Italians showed just what they can do on the road with the dismantling of Dortmund in the last round - and if they grab an away goal at the Stade Louis II, Monaco will face an uphill task. Having said that, the likes of Bayern Munich and Barcelona remain a cut above at present and it would be hard to see the Bianconeri getting the better of those sides to claim a third European Cup crown, particularly on this showing.

Arturo Vidal (Juventus). In a contest lacking true quality, the midfielder showed touches of his class before overcoming the disappointment of a glaring first-half miss to tuck home the match-winning penalty.

PLAYER RATINGS

JUVENTUS: Buffon 7, Lichtsteiner 7, Bonucci 6, Chiellini 6, Evra 6, Vidal 8, Pirlo 7, Marchisio 7, Pereyra 6, Tevez 7, Morata 6. Subs: Barzagli 6, Matri n/a, Sturaro n/a.

MONACO: Subasic 7, Raggi 6, Carvalho 6, Abdennour 7, Kurzawa 6, Fabinho 6, Kondogbia 6, Moutinho 7, Carrasco 7, Martial 7, Dirar 6. Subs: Silva 6, Berbatov 6.