MONACO: Striker Gonzalo Higuain displayed some worth for his huge transfer fee and Gianluigi Buffon showed he is still priceless in goal, each starring as Juventus won 2-0 at Monaco in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.

Higuain — who cost Juve 90 million euros ($98 million) when he joined from Napoli last year — scored a goal in each half on Wednesday, doubling his tally from 24 previous matches in the knockout stages.

“Goals were not coming for me in this competition,” said Higuain after ending a seven-game run without scoring in the knockout stages. “But I knew I just had to stay calm and keep working hard.”

He did, relentlessly, at both ends of the pitch.

Both of his goals came from Dani Alves assists, with the Argentine hitman rounding off a breathtaking team move to open the scoring just before the half-hour mark and converting the second from close range after the break.

Moments before his second goal, he was near his own penalty area, harrying and hassling Monaco’s attack.

“When you want to win big games, you have to make sacrifices and track back,” Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri said, complimenting his star striker.

He had a special praise, too, for the 39-year-old Buffon on the goalkeeper’s 100th Champions League appearance for the club.

Buffon made two early saves from teenaged Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe with the score 0-0, thwarted top scorer Radamel Falcao with a fine stop just after the break and denied Monaco a lifeline with a stunning finger-tip save over the bar from substitute Valere Germain’s close-range header in the last minute.

“He’s still No 1 in the world,” Allegri said. “He is always decisive in the big games.”

Little wonder centre-back Giorgio Chiellini rushed over to hug Buffon at the final whistle.

“Gigi was perfect,” Chiellini said.

Juve gave a masterclass in how to withstand pressure and then punish on the counter attack, with both of Higuain’s goals coming after good Monaco spells.

“This could become an extraordinary season for us,” Allegri said of his team’s bid for a title treble.

While the second leg in Turin next Tuesday will be no formality, Juve have never lost a two-legged European tie to French opposition and so impressive were they at the Stade Louis II that it is hard to imagine Monaco recovering.

“We approached the game the way we had to and did what he had to do,” Buffon told reporters. “We do have an advantage but we also know Monaco have excellent players capable of scoring away. It’s not over.”

A youthful Monaco team had breezed through the tournament with free-scoring performances but they could not find a way through the brilliant away defence.

They will now need something very special next week if they are to make it to a first Champions League final since 2004.

“They had two chances and scored two goals, we had many and scored none, that says it all”, said Mbappe, who had scored 18 goals from his last 18 competitive games, including three in the 6-3 aggregate win over Borussia Dortmund in the last eight.

Juventus combined well in the opening stages and were the first on target with a low drive by Dani Alves straight at Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic on 13 minutes.

Relying on their trademark counter-attacking style, the home side threatened when Mbappe collected a Nabil Dirar cross and forced Buffon to show his class.

Buffon was made to work again, punching out a header from close range by Falcao.

Juve are a slick side, sound defensively but with an awesome attacking arsenal of their own and it was they who opened the scoring on 29 minutes in stunning fashion when Dani Alves raced into the box and back-heeled for Higuain to sweep home a clinical finish.

The same two players combined again for the visitors’ second goal on 59 minutes, Higuain tapping in from close range from an astute cross by the veteran Brazilian defender.

Monaco found little success through the middle and so opted for speed down the flanks. But the Juve defence often had every angle covered, and Buffon was there when they didn’t, producing a majestic save to tip over Germain’s header from a Joao Moutinho free-kick.

“With two or three chances they scored twice, and from the same number we couldn’t,” Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim said. “But that is also down to Buffon. He made two or three incredible saves.”

Leading scorers after Wednesday’s match:

11 goals: Messi (Barcelona)

10 goals: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

8 goals: Cavani (Paris SG), Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

7 goals: Aubameyang (Dortmund)

5 goals: Ageero (Manchester City), Benzema (Real Madrid), Falcao (Monaco), Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Higuain (Juventus), Mbappe (Monaco), Mertens (Napoli)—AFP

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2017