Brazilian left back Roberto Carlos scored a 73rd-minute game-winner on Tuesday as defending champion Real Madrid beat two-time winner Juventus 2-1 in the first leg of the semifinals of the Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

　　Roberto Carlos' goal gave Madrid a slender lead to take //into//he second leg at the Delle Alpi Stadium in Turin, Italy, on May 14.

　　Ronaldo, Madrid's other Brazilian star, opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. French striker David Trezeguet equalized in the last minute of the first half.

　　Juventus, despite lacking suspended defender Paolo Montero and midfielders Alessio Tacchinardi and Edgar Davids, gave a typically industrious display against a Madrid team aiming to gain a record 10th title.

　　Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque, who led the team to Champions League wins in 2000 and 2002, sprung a surprise by selecting Spanish international Fernando Morientes - omitted almost all season - as the replacement for striker Raul Gonzalez, who is recovering from an appendix operation.

　　Madrid, which suffered a humiliating 5-1 league defeat at home against Mallorca on Saturday, began badly and Trezeguet should have scored after an eighth-minute mistake by defender Ivan Helguera.

　　The European champion responded eight minutes later when Juventus goal-keeper Gianluigi Buffon clawed away an in-swinging free kick by midfielder Zinedine Zidane.

　　Zidane, who played on the losing team in the 1998 Champions League final when Madrid beat Juventus 1-0 in Amsterdam, was fast emerging as his team's best player as Madrid forced the Italian champion //into// rearguard action.

　　Madrid took the lead in the 23rd minute through a move which Ronaldo began by passing to Morientes. The Spanish international did well to return the ball and the Brazilian showed a characteristic burst of speed before sidefooting the ball past the outstretched Buffon from just outside the area.

　　Juventus was forced to resort to harsh tactics to stem Madrid's flow and defenders Alessando Birindelli and Mark Iuliano and midfielder Gianluca Zambrotta all received yellow cards over the succeeding minutes.

　　But moments after Morientes had fired over following good work by Ronaldo, Juventus equalized against the run of play just before the interval.

　　Striker Alessandro del Piero's shot was deflected by Madrid right back Michel Salgado//into// the path of Trezeguet, who had time to control the ball before stab-bing the ball past goalkeeper Iker Casillas for what could be an all-important away goal.

　　Madrid's hopes of restoring its lead did not appear to be helped when the injured Ronaldo was replaced by Javier Portillo in the 50th minute. Reports said Ronaldo will miss Saturday's league game at Recreativo de Huelva and may not be fit to face Juventus next week.

　　Juventus, however, dis-played renewed confidence, frustrating Madrid's attacking moves and creating its own chances, with Del Piero coming close twice and Zambrotta heading just over.

　　Madrid took the lead again when the Brazilian left back scored with a long-range shot after Juventus had failed to clear a corner. As many as three players looked offside and play was briefly halted while Norwegian referee Terje Hauge spoke to his assistant, but he allowed the goal.

　　Juventus coach Marcello Lippi said "the referee deemed that the players were not interfering with play. There is nothing more to be said."

　　Juventus' veteran defender Ciro Ferrara was issued with a yellow card for a 80th-minute foul on Luis Figo, ruling him out of second leg.