Narrow 4: 3 victory – Benfica makes the lady look old: CL-Aus for Juventus – Sport

Legend:

man of the game

Benfica’s Rafa Silva.

Keystone/Tiago Petinga

  • Benfica beat Juventus 4-3 in the 5th round of the Champions League.
  • The Italians have to accept the premature end in the premier class – for the first time in 9 years.
  • You can find Tuesday’s other Champions League games here.

What do Antonio Conti and Massimiliano Allegri have in common? Both are Italian, right. Both became Italian champions with Juventus, right. And both failed with this same club in the group stage of the Champions League. For the first time since the 2013/14 season, the “old lady” missed the leap into the knockout phase of the Champions League.

For the guests from Piedmont, the starting position was clear when they played in Lisbon. In the 5th round of the Champions League, a win against Benfica was needed to avert the premature end. Because the Italians only had 3 points, PSG and Benfica were able to go into the penultimate matchday in Group H with 8 points each.

Furious Benfica

But the Allegri-Elf had to realize early on that anything but an easy task awaited them in the Estadio da Luz madhouse. Especially in the person of Rafa Silva, the home team knew how to cause danger again and again. But Antonio Silva was able to give the Portuguese the lead in the 17th minute. It didn’t get any quieter in the following minutes:

The Italians must have been happy when the referee asked for tea. But even after the change of sides, things didn’t get any better for the guests. Just 5 minutes were played in the 2nd half when the outstanding Rafa Silva overcame Juve goalie Wojciech Szczesny with a soulful lob.

Juve’s comeback is not rewarded

As a result, things calmed down on the pitch, and for a long time it looked like an easy win for Benfica. However, Arkadiusz Milik’s goal to make it 2-4 in the 77th minute breathed new life into the “old lady”. 2 minutes later Weston McKennie scored to make it 3:4, the Portuguese suddenly started swimming. But despite great chances for both sides (including a shot at the post by Rafa Silva in the 86th minute), no further goals were scored, so that in the end Benfica made it through to the round of 16.

Juventus have to give up the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in 9 years. In general, it was a game to forget for the Italians. Never since the introduction of the premier class have Juve conceded 3 goals in a 1st half, never before have they conceded as many goals in a group stage as this season.

Paris sovereign

Meanwhile, Paris St-Germain showed no trouble at all in the home game against Maccabi Haifa. Twice Lionel Messi (19th/44th), twice Kylian Mbappé (32nd/64th), Neymar (35th), an own goal by Sean Goldberg (67th) and Carlos Soler (84th) gave the French a clear 7th place :2 win. This also qualifies PSG for the round of 16. Maccabi Haifa is fighting for a place in the Europa League in a long-distance duel with Juventus on the last day of the game.

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