The final score may not really have been reflective of the game, but the result was just and telling. Benfica beat Juventus Tuesday in the Champions League, 4—3, but it had dominated for such long periods that midway through the second half it seemed possible that Roger Schmidt’s side could have won by five or six. Juventus’s late rally, though, could neither disguise how poor it was for the first 70 minutes, nor could it prevent the club’s first exit in the group stage since 2013-14—and there’s still a match to play. An organization in decline is continuing on a wayward trajectory.
Last season was bad for Juventus, but this season has been worse. As it rallied to finish fourth in the spring, there was at least the background thought that manager Massimiliano Allegri was sorting out the problems caused when he was relieved of the job in 2019. That excuse has been harder to maintain this time around, though. Juventus sits eighth in Serie A, 10 points behind imperious leader Napoli, while form in Europe has been desperate and poor. It may have been beset by injury—a fully fit Federico Chiesa and Paul Pogba perhaps could have papered over some cracks—but the overall vibe about the club has been off.
Defeat to Benfica confirmed Juventus’s absence from the knockout stage—a third-place finish and drop down to the Europa League’s second phase is still possible—but the overall decline has been gradual (last-16 defeats to Lyon, Porto and Villarreal in the last three seasons) and the damage this season had been done long ago. There was the first half away to Paris Saint-Germain when Juventus was lucky only to be 2—0 down, and ended up losing 2—1. Then there was the 2—1 home defeat to Benfica, the advantage of taking a fourth-minute lead soon lost. And two weeks ago there was the humbling 2—0 defeat away to Maccabi Haifa.
