After falling behind 4-3 to Benfica in Group H at the Estadio da Luz, Juventus’ late comeback was in vain, and the Italian powerhouse was eliminated from the Champions League.
The Old Lady needed a strong performance to maintain their chances of moving on to the knockout stages after starting the day five points behind Roger Schmidt’s team and Paris Saint-Germain. However, they were 4-1 down before the hour mark thanks to goals from Antonio Silva, Rafa Silva (2), and Joao Mario.
The Old Lady, who also scored twice in two minutes through Arkadiusz Milik and Weston McKennie in the closing seconds after Dusan Vlahovic had initially restored parity, were unable to complete an unlikely comeback.
an accident-hit In the opening exchanges of the game, Benfica put a lot of pressure on Juventus, and the Old Lady didn’t enter their opponents’ half until the 13th minute.
However, Benfica’s pressure only took 17 minutes to pay off as Juventus paid the price for staying deep and were defeated by a quick corner tactic. Antonio Silva was there to meet Enzo Fernandez’s inswinging cross and score.
Benfica’s goal gave Juventus hardly a chance, but it only took Massimiliano Allegri’s team seven minutes to equalise from their own corner routine. Vlahovic was the first to react to a scrum in the goalmouth and poked the ball over the line before Moise Kean made sure of the goal.
Goal-line technology was not available due to construction during the game, but Vlahovic was given credit for the goal after a thorough VAR review.
Benfica’s happiness after scoring first was short-lived, but Juventus’ was even more so after Juan Cuadrado gave away a penalty for handball in the 28th minute. Mario scored without error from the penalty spot for his third Champions League goal of the year.
In the 35th minute, Mario was instrumental in Benfica’s third goal, supplying a strong low cross for Rafa Silva to score with a cheeky boot flick from a few yards out, seemingly ending Juventus’ slim chances of advancing to the knockout round.
For Benfica, what a half! They dominated the first few minutes and deservedly took the lead when Silva scored in the 17th. Juventus responded in the 21st minute after Vlahovic’s goal was disallowed for offside despite not playing at their best. After Cuadrado handled the ball in the box and gave Juve a penalty, things began to go wrong. Joao Mario scored Benfica’s second goal from the penalty spot and then helped Rafa score the third goal with a deft flick with his back foot.
Following the break, the home team’s offensive prowess did not abate, and in the 51st minute, Silva gave the hosts a 2-0 lead by chipping Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny from Alejandro Grimaldo’s pass after Leonardo Bonucci had lost possession of the ball.
The Bianconeri unexpectedly scored two goals in the 77th and 88th minutes after Allegri’s team was struggling to generate any significant offence in the final 20 minutes. McKennie then further cut the deficit in half.
In the first half, Benfica was relentless and unforgiving, scoring three goals while Juventus only managed to score one from a corner, making them look like amateurs. Rafa Silva’s second goal of the night gave the second half the appearance that it would be similar to the first, but after some substitutions, Juventus came alive and scored two goals in quick succession. They kept trying to score a last-minute equaliser at 4-3, but it was too late.
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