Juventus had been overwhelmed 2-0 at residence within the Champions League by Benfica, persevering with a horrible week for Thiago Motta’s males.
After dropping factors at Membership Brugge, Juventus nonetheless held slim hopes of ending within the prime eight and wanted a giant win in opposition to Benfica, however the Portuguese facet began the sport as if they had been decided to take all three factors.
Andreas Schjelderup had a shot blocked, just for Samuel Mbangula to pressure a top-class save from Anatoliy Trubin as Juve turned defence into assault.
Schjelderup got here shut once more, drawing a effective cease from Mattia Perin within the Juventus aim.
As Juve struggled to comprise Benfica, their night time worsened when Pierre Kalulu picked up an harm and couldn’t proceed.
Seconds after the Frenchman was subbed off, Vangelis Pavlidis smashed the ball residence to open the scoring.
Juventus started pushing to get again into the sport, with Douglas Luiz busy in midfield and Francisco Conceição probing the Benfica defence on the wing, however the Portuguese crew got here well-prepared.
In added time on the finish of the primary half, Benfica may have prolonged their lead if Pavlidis hadn’t drawn a world-class save from Perin.
After the break, Juve continued to wrestle to create clear-cut possibilities, whereas Orkun Kökçü got here agonisingly near scoring a second for Benfica.
Khephren Thuram had a very good likelihood to tug one again for Juventus from a rebound, however Trubin pulled off one other effective save.
Juve saved pushing to attain, however Trubin remained impenetrable when possibilities arose, and Benfica’s defence dealt with different threats successfully.
As Juventus looked for an equaliser, Benfica struck once more in opposition to the run of play, with Kökçü lastly discovering the again of the online with a effective effort.
The second aim deflated the Bianconeri’s confidence, and regardless of their efforts, they had been unable to search out the aim they’d labored so exhausting for, in the end succumbing to a different disappointing defeat.
