Juventus crashed out of the Champions League in humiliating fashion as they endured a 4-3 defeat against Benfica in Lisbon with one round of matches to go.
The Italian giants – who needed a victory to keep their faint hopes of qualification for the Round of 16 alive – were outclassed by Benfica, who previously won 2-1 in Turin in the group stage. This time round, a double from Rafa Silva helped to condemn Max Allegri’s side to a defeat – which should have been heavier than it appeared.
Antonio Silva opened the scoring for the hosts in the 17 th minute but Moise Kean levelled things up four minutes later following a lengthy VAR check. Yet Joao Mario soon restored Benfica’s lead from the penalty spot before Silva netted a classy double, including a flicked back-heel finish for the third. Arkadiusz Milik and Weston McKennie both scored late on to give Juve hope after a host of missed Benfica opportunities, but it was not enough for the Old Lady.
It not only condemns Juve to elimination from the Champions League, but their hopes of Europa League football hang in the balance. They are ahead of Maccabi Haifa in the group on goal difference only going into the final round of action.
The Israeli side fell to a 7-2 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain; as Neymar and Carlos Soler scored for Les Parisiens with Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi both netting doubles. However, Messi could not complete his hat-trick – meaning that he remains tied on eight trebles in the competition with Cristiano Ronaldo, and could not take the record outright.
Elsewhere in Chelsea ’s group, Milan have moved up to second spot – above Red Bull Salzburg – with a comprehensive four-goal victory at Dinamo Zagreb. Matteo Gabbia, Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud were all on target for Milan, while Robert Ljubicic scored an unfortunate own goal for the hosts.
Group F saw a huge win for RB Leipzig over Real Madrid in Germany to consolidate their place in second spot in the group. Josko Gvardiol, Christopher Nkunku and Timo Werner were all on the scoresheet for Marco Rose’s side, after Vinicius Junior had initially halved the deficit in the first half and Rodrygo Goes scored a last-gasp consolation penalty.
Shakhtar Donetsk – who play Leipzig on the final day in Poland – could still quality ahead of the German side after they secured a 1-1 draw in Glasgow. Mykhailo Mudryk scored a tremendous equaliser for the Ukrainian team after Giorgos Giakoumakis gave Celtic the lead, while Danylo Sikan missed an incredible chance to win the game late on as his effort into an open goal was mis controlled and trickled agonisingly wide.
In Group G, Sevilla look set to book a Europa League knockout place at least after defeating Danish side Copenhagen 3-0 in the Andalusian capital. Youssef En-Nesyri, Isco and Gonzalo Montiel all netted in the win for Jorge Sampaoli’s side – their first in the competition this season.
