Ronaldo's injury-time penalty cancels out Juventus' inspired comeback

Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty in injury time brushed aside Juventus' thrilling three-goal second-leg comeback at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, continuing Real Madrid's conquest for a third consecutive Champions League title.

Los Blancos were rocked in the Spanish capital. A Mario Mandzukic brace and a scrappy Blaise Matuidi effort levelled the double-header 3-3 on aggregate, but Zinedine Zidane's side then turned up the pressure until Medhi Benatia toppled Lucas Vazquez in the box.

Protestations from Juventus players led referee Michael Oliver to show Gianluigi Buffon a straight red card, and substitute goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was powerless to prevent Ronaldo's callous finish from 12 yards after 97 minutes. Excluding matches that went into extra time, it was the latest Champions League goal since November 2003.

Buffon admitted in the lead-up to the game that it could be his last appearance in the Champions League. If that's the case, angrily shouting to nobody in particular as he marched off the pitch would be a sad way for the 40-year-old to go.

He nearly skippered one of the greatest comebacks ever seen in the competition - just 24 hours after Roma surprisingly dumped Real Madrid arch-nemesis Barcelona from the quarter-finals.

Real Madrid reaches the final four for an eighth straight campaign, and will face either Bayern Munich, Liverpool, or Roma in the next round. It was inevitable that Ronaldo would be Juventus' tormentor; he scored his 10th Champions League goal against the Old Lady. No player has scored that many against a single opponent in the tournament's history.

"I am happy because, based on the 180 minutes, we played better," Zidane declared after the final whistle, according to journalist Juan G. Arango.