The Ghana international is still in with a shot of winning Europe’s elite prize this season
Kwadwo Asamoah remains in contention for the Champions League final after his club Juventus beat AS Monaco 1-0 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.
The Ghana star played no part in the Old Lady’s double-header against the Club of the Principality as he recovers from his season-destroying injury, but he may be in line to feature in the final stages of the competition.
The decisive moment of the tie proved to be Arturo Vidal’s 57th-minute penalty at the Juventus Stadium in the first leg.
Back at the Stade Louis II on Wednesday evening, Monaco knew they needed to score to at least stand a chance to go through. However, while Leonardo Jardim’s were released from their defensive shackles, and pushed forward manfully, they were unable to score the goal they were looking for.
The home side had their chances, and Asamoah’s teammates rode their luck at times, particularly when the impressive Geoffrey Kondogbia was brought down by Giorgio Chiellini and Vidal in the box.
Bernardo Silva was also a menace and had chances to open the score himself.
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However, Juventus—who were without both the Black Star and fellow key midfielder Paul Pogba—held out to draw 0-0 on the night and advance 1-0 on aggregate.
They will now advance to the semi-finals where they will play one of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Asamoah hasn’t featured since November 4, when he suffered a knee injury and had pinhole surgery at the end of the month to fix a cartilage problem.
While the club initially anticipated a three-to-four month absence for the midfielder—ruling him out of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations—Asamoah is yet to return to action.
There is reason for optimism as he returned to training earlier this week and will surely be targeting a comeback before the season’s end. Bianconeri coach Massimiliano Allegri will be keen to reintegrate Asamoah into his successful outfit for both the Serie A run-in and, particularly, the challenges that lie ahead in Europe.
– Goal.com