Alessandro Del Piero struck twice at the Bernabeu to defeat Real Madrid and qualify Juventus for the knockout round.

The 2-1 win in Turin revived a Juve side in crisis and they had been on a winning streak for the next fortnight, so confidence was high despite an injury list that included Gigi Buffon, David Trezeguet, Christian Poulsen, Zdenek Grygera, Hasan Salihamidzic and Cristiano Zanetti. Tiago Mendes was given a rare chance to shine in midfield and Olof Mellberg moved to right-back. Ruud Van Nistelrooy was able to start for Real despite a fitness worry, but Arjen Robben pulled out during the warm-up to make way for Drenthe.

Alex Manninger comfortably collected a weak Guti effort, but he was far shakier on a swerving Wesley Sneijder cross. Real had penalty appeals for a Tiago handling offence, although it hit his arm only after ricocheting off the Madrid player's head.

However, it was Juventus who broke the deadlock with Alessandro Del Piero yet again. He had opened the scoring with a solo effort in Turin and did it again, this time finding space from 20 yards as the defenders backed off and he stroked a precise low left-foot drive into the bottom near corner. It was the captain's third goal in four Champions League games.

Real were shaken, but poured forward in retaliation with Sergio Ramos nodding over, while Raul accused Giorgio Chiellini of an elbow in the box when it seemed the Spaniard had run into the back of him.

Pavel Nedved was a little too late to slide on to Cristian Molinaro's cross, but Madrid wasted a golden opportunity. Sergio Ramos was totally unmarked at the back post on a chipped Sneijder cross, but incredibly ballooned over the bar with the inside of his right foot from six yards.

Van Nistelrooy fired over on the counter and Amauri threatened before half-time with his angled drive charged down and the follow-up too long for Tiago. Mellberg did well to block a dangerous Drenthe cross and Diarra also turned a free header well wide in a suspected offside position.

After the restart Drenthe's cross-shot hit the side-netting and Raul had a decent penalty shout for a shove from Nicola Legrottaglie. Iker Casillas rushed out to clear from Marco Marchionni, but when Nedved got to the loose ball the goalkeeper had already resumed his position.

Real had plenty of the ball, but were doing precious little with it, so Gonzalo Higuain replaced Sneijder. Fabio Cannavaro brought down Momo Sissoko 28 metres from goal. It was Del Piero territory and Il Capitano curled a brilliant free kick in at the near post with Casillas rooted to the spot! It was a fine way to celebrate his 34th birthday coming up on Sunday, although the defensive wall was placed very badly.

Higuain had a good chance to get Real back into it immediately, but he scuffed the low cross at the back post. Van Nistelrooy's half-volley was charged down, possibly by Legrottaglie's arm, but it was at point-blank range and he had his arms across his chest, so unlikely to warrant a penalty.

Bernd Schuster was desperate to break back into the game and threw on Javier Saviola and Rafael Van Der Vaart. Instead it was so nearly 3-0 on 87 minutes, as Del Piero turned his marker on a Vincenzo Iaquinta pass and an angled daisy-cutter shaved a coat of paint off the base of the far post.

Alex Manninger made a rare save in the final minutes, grabbing Drenthe's header and Del Piero was given the chance to appreciate the standing ovation of the Bernabeu with a stoppage-time substitution.

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