Cristiano Ronaldo's first-half brace saw Juventus come from behind to claim a 2-1 first-leg win against Inter in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia.
Lautaro Martinez put speculation of a new contract aside to fire Inter in front before Ronaldo emphatically dispatched a 26th-minute penalty.
There was still plenty for Ronaldo to do 10 minutes before the interval when Samir Handanovic charged out to leave his goal unguarded, yet the 35-year-old clipped home with aplomb.
Inter had the better of the second half but were unable to find a response as top scorer Romelu Lukaku served a suspension.
Gianluigi Buffon endured a moment to forget on his 1,100th career appearance as Inter took a ninth-minute lead.
Alexis Sanchez held up play shrewdly for Nicolo Barella, whose measured cross was struck first time by Martinez. Buffon got down in awkward fashion and his touch could not prevent the ball from spinning into his goal.
A VAR review gave Juventus the chance to get back on terms, with referee Gianpaolo Calvarese deciding Ashley Young had impeded Juan Cuadrado enough to award a penalty.
Ronaldo made no mistake, lashing his spot-kick high into the net.
While Handanovic had no chance on that occasion, his inexplicable decision to charge out as Alessandro Bastoni tried to shepherd a hopeful ball away from Ronaldo left the five-time Ballon d'Or winner to slot calmly into an unguarded net.
Young had a drive pushed over by Buffon early in the second half when Juve partially cleared a set-piece, while Handanovic recovered his poise to cleverly keep out a deflected Bernardeschi shot from inside the box.
This was a game where errors continued to enhance the entertainment value. In the 58th minute, a horrible touch from Rodrigo Bentancur coughed up possession to Inter on the edge of the Juve box.
Sanchez looked certain to score, with Buffon stranded, but Merih Demiral made an astonishing goal-line clearance.
Buffon rolled back the years to thwart Matteo Darmian at close quarters following fine work from Sanchez and Martinez, and the latter duo could not fashion an equaliser in Lukaku's absence.
Juventus withdraw from European Super League and request to re-join ECA
Juventus have confirmed their withdrawal from the European Super League project and requested to rejoin the European Club Association (ECA).
Juve were one of 12 European clubs that signed up to form a breakaway Super League in April 2021, a plan that sparked widespread protests from fans.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Milan and Inter were also part of the original breakaway group.
As a result of the announcement, those teams were also excluded from the ECA.
However, following the backlash from supporters and threats of sanctions by UEFA, nine of the clubs backed out swiftly, with the project collapsing within 72 hours.
They were then readmitted to the ECA, and in July 2023, Juventus began the process of pulling out of the European Super League.
ECA chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi said on Saturday: "I am pleased to report that Juventus has requested to re-join ECA, which will be formalised shortly.
"ECA's door is always open to clubs who believe in collective interests, progressive reform and working constructively with all stakeholders – we are delighted Juventus will rejoin the European football family."
Madrid and Barcelona are the only remaining teams backing the Super League and have led revived plans, proposing a revamped 64-club league.
T&T Women defeat Curacao 3-1 to move to two wins from two in Caribbean Queen’s Friendly Tournament
Trinidad & Tobago’s National Women’s Football Team defeated hosts Curacao 3-1 to remain unbeaten in the Caribbean Queen's Friendly Tournament which continued at the Stadion Rignaal ‘Jean’ Francisca, Willemstad on Thursday.
The Trinidadians were given a positive start through goals from senior team debutants Sonia Lamarre and Cherina Steele in the ninth and 14th minutes, respectively, before Curacao pulled one back in the 45th off a corner kick to cut the lead in half heading into the break.
Lille full-back Kedie Johnson restored the visitors' two-goal lead twenty minutes into the second half.
“Very happy with the result, not so much the football,” said T&T Head coach Richard Hood said after Thursday’s win.
Important to note, this game came just a day after they secured a 2-1 win over Aruba at the same venue.
“I thought it was really important that we pulled off a victory tonight given the physical conditioning of the girls. We saw tonight all our senior players struggled, having played 90 minutes last evening (Wednesday night) as well and again on turf which adds to the difficulty,” Hood said.
“The effort from the girls was tremendous and I am really happy with that. They showed a lot of resilience although they were very much dead on their legs. I thought it was really important that we were able to score three quality goals tonight, given our fatigued state,” he added.
Curacao's tactics forced the Trinidadians to play a style they weren't expecting and Hood gave his team credit for adjusting well.
“They forced us to run more than we would have liked and they played a lot of long balls...but all in all, I am really happy with the effort from the girls tonight and I’m happy with their determination to really win,” he said.
Hood expressed satisfaction with what he’s seeing from the next generation after using a number of younger players throughout the first two encounters of the tournament.
“The future is really bright for the youngsters once we do the right things in terms of nurturing them and assisting with their development and getting them involved in more tournaments such as these so all in all, very happy,” he added.
T&T will face Aruba again on Sunday before facing Curacao on Monday.
Dykes ruled out of Euro 2024 for Scotland
Scotland striker Lyndon Dykes has been ruled out of Euro 2024 after picking up an injury in training on Friday.
While preparing for their upcoming friendly against Gibraltar, Dykes left the training pitch on a stretcher with an apparent knee injury.
On Saturday, Scotland confirmed that the 28-year-old will miss the tournament, though the injury has not been specified.
Dykes has scored nine goals for Scotland in 36 appearances, and played in all eight of their Euro 2024 qualifiers, scoring once.
Steve Clarke's side will begin the tournament against hosts Germany in the opening match on June 14.
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