Ronaldo misses penalty as Juventus advances to Coppa Italia final

Cristiano Ronaldo will be relieved that his team, Juventus FC, will still advance to the final of the Coppa Italia despite his rare penalty miss. The second leg of their semi-finals against AC Milan ended in a goalless draw last night in Turin. This means that Juve advances on away goals courtesy of a 1-1 first leg draw at the San Siro back on February 13 before the pandemic lockdown.

Juventus failed to score even while playing against ten men for three-quarters of the match. Ante Rebic was sent off in the 17th minute after a foul on Danilo. Incidentally, Ronaldo missed a spot kick just a minute before. He was awarded the missed opportunity after Andrea Conti was caught deliberately handling the ball by the VAR.

Ronaldo stepped up to the spot and faced Milan's Gianluigi Donnarumma. Everyone expected Juventus to take the lead but the Portuguese superstar is human after all. He hit low and slammed the ball into the right post. This is his first penalty miss since January 2019. Luckily for him, the team advanced anyway, and he will have a chance to redeem himself at the final.

In the final, Juventus will be facing either Napoli or Inter Milan, who are set to face off for their second leg encounter tonight. Napoli carries a 1-0 lead going into the second leg. According to the BBC, Italian football authorities decided to finish the remaining Coppa Italia games this week, before Serie A officially returns to action on June 20.

This will be Juventus' 19th appearance at the Coppa Italia final. It will also be their chance to clinch a 14th title. The match will be played in Rome on Wednesday, June 17.

Meanwhile, in the Serie A, Juventus was sitting at the the top of the table before the league was halted in March due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. However, they are leading only by one point ahead of Lazio. If they win the Coppa Italia on Wednesday, they will be going into the Serie A with their sights set for a treble on Mauricio Sarri's first full season in charge.