Massimiliano Allegri claimed Juventus are on track to become one of Europe's elite once again after they edged Monaco to reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

Arturo Vidal's first leg penalty proved decisive, with a goalless draw at Stade Louis II enough to see Juve through to the final four courtesy of a 1-0 aggregate scoreline.

Allegri is determined to rediscover the glory days of years gone by in Turin, which is home to two European Cup/Champions League titles.

"I want to celebrate with the fans - it is turning into a great year for Juventus," Allegri was quoted as saying by UEFA.com.

"There were signs of us becoming a great European team again.  

"We did not have great games in either leg but Monaco are pretty good - we knew they would be. We did not have many chances but we defended well.

"Monaco produced two big performances, but we had to be brave and we were. It is always difficult reaching the semi-finals but we made it, all credit to our players. We are a group and we gave it our all. Although we did not play a great game, we were ready for every situation and we did what we had to do.

"My players were hit by a virus, they were sick, so we have achieved a big thing by qualifying here. Twelve years on we are in the semi-finals again. I fear no one - we will play the best teams in Europe and this will be a very exciting challenge."  

While Juve have recovered from the Calciopoli scandal that rocked Italian football in 2006 to dominate again domestically in recent seasons, they have not been in the last four in Europe’s elite club competition since 2003.

The two-time European champions will therefore be the underdogs in Friday’s draw alongside holders Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, clubs who have 10 appearances in the semi-finals between them over the last four seasons alone.

But a bullish Allegri said: “We are not afraid. This was an important objective for us but not the final one.

“There would be no point in qualifying if we didn’t want to go even further. We will of course look to reach the final.”

In his first season in charge of Italy’s most successful club, Allegri has Juve on the brink of retaining the Serie A title, in the final of the Italian Cup and now they remain in with a chance of continental glory, 30 years after they won their first European Cup on the night of the Heysel disaster.

-