Juventus suffered their fifth Champions League group stage defeat of an embarrassing campaign – but have been handed a reprieve with a place in the Europa League knockout stages.
The Italian giants slumped to a 2-1 home defeat against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night ensuring that they ended their group stage with just three points from six games. However, their superior goal difference saw them pip rank outsiders Maccabi Haifa to third place and a Europa League slot.
Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring for Les Parisiens in Turin in the 13 th minute with a wonderful individual goal as the visitors capitalised on a moment of sloppy defending from Juve. Manuel Locatelli was robbed of possession in his own defensive third to gift the ball away.
There was still work for the visitors to do, as Lionel Messi picked up the ball and immediately passed it forward to Mbappe, who took on defender Federico Gatti and, despite a shirt grab, bypassed him and several challenges with ease before producing a cool finish from outside the box.
Yet the game meandered without any tempo or urgency and PSG’s sloppiness saw them concede six minutes before the break as Juan Cuadrado found space down the right flank and cut the ball across for Leonardo Bonucci to equalise.
However, Max Allegri’s side – who are enduring a difficult campaign not only in Europe but domestically – could not prevent PSG from retaking the lead in the second half. Left wing-back Nuno Mendes scored with a minute of his introduction in the 69 th minute.
Have Your Say! Are Juve the biggest underperforming club in Europe this season? Tell us what you think here.
In Israel, Maccabi Haifa knew they needed at least a point against Benfica if they were to have any chance of stunning Juve and pipping them to third spot in the standings. Tjaronn Chery’s first half penalty cancelled out the opener from Goncalo Ramos with the game appearing to be finely in the balance going into the second period.
Yet the Portuguese league leaders showed a tour de force in the second half with five unanswered goals from Petar Musa, Rafa Silva, Alex Grimaldo, Henrique Araujo and Joao Mario all finding the net – meaning that Benfica pipped PSG to top spot in the group on their head-to-head record against PSG.
Benfica finished on the same number of points, goals scored and goals conceded as PSG, but their superior head-to-head record – determined by away goals scored in the two draws between the sides – saw them finish top, as PSG must settle for second spot.
