If anyone is asking can the situation get any worse for Juventus, the answer is one loud – YES. The Old Lady is going through a terrible period. Allegri’s men are already 10 points behind league leaders Napoli, they are under financial investigation for capital gains and tonight they were officially eliminated from the Champions League. But it doesn’t end there. They needed to defeat Benfica in Portugal in order to remain in the race for the second place, but they didn’t only lost, they were humiliated in Lisbon from a fantastic club: Benfica – Juventus 4-3.1 – Juventus have conceded three goals during the first half of a match for the first time in their Champions League history. Blackout.#BenficaJuve #UCL— OptaPaolo 🏆 (@OptaPaolo) October 25, 2022 The guests didn’t stood a chance tonight and they can be happy that they only conceded four, considering how many chances the home team created. The final score in not a real one, considering that Juve were losing 4-1 until 77th minute, when they used the home team’s lack of concentration and scored two quick goals. This is also the first time in Juve’s Champions League history that they conceded three goals in the first half, and it happened against defense orientated Allegri’s team. Dark days. Benfica have hosted Juventus on three occasions before tonight (1968, 1993 and 2014) and won all three times and now that record is extended. Benfica is still undefeated in all competitions and the Portuguese club is not only winning and scoring goals, they play beautiful football. Benfica took things under their control from the first minute and it soon resulted with a goal. Enzo Fernandez sent a beautiful cross and a18-year-old Antonio Silva was on target: 1-0 in the 17th minute. But football is a funny game and Juventus equalized after only five minutes, with a first chance in the game. The goal was denied at first, but the replay showed that Vlahović was not in offside and after a lengthy VAR check, it was 1-1. But the fruitful half time ended with two more goals, both from Benfica. The hosts are so full of confidence with their unbeatable run, that they just kept attacking and handball from Cuadrado and fantastic improvised flick finish from Rafa Silva provided with uncatchable two goal lead. The same played added another one in the second half, and only then, when it was 4-1, Juve started playing without pressure and scored two goals in two minutes, for the nerve wrecking 10 minutes after which the game ended 4-3 for the hosts.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUEGroup stage – Round 5TuesdaySalzburg – Chelsea 1-2 (1-1)/Adamu 48 – Kovacic 23, Havertz 64/Sevilla – Copenhagen 3-0 (0-0)/En-Nesyri 61, Isco 88, Montiel 90/Dinamo Zagreb – Milan 0-4 (0-1)/Gabbia 39, Leao 49, Giroud 59, Ljubicic (og) 69/Celtic – Shakhtar 1-0 (1-0)/Giakoumakis 34 – Mudryk 58/RB Leipzig – Real Madrid 3-1 (2-1)/Gvardiol 13, Nkunku 18, Werner 81 – Vinicius 44, Rodrygo 90+4 (p)/Dortmund – Man.City 0-0Benfica – Juventus 4-3 (3-1)/Silva 17, Mario 28(p), Rafa Silva 35, 50 – Kean 22, Milik 77, McKenna 79/PSG – Maccabi Haifa 7-2 (4-1)/Mesi 19, 44, Mbappe 32, 64, Neymar 35, Goldberg 67, Soler 84 – Seck 38, 50/Wednesday19:45: (3.45) Club Brugge (3.40) Porto (2.25)19:45: (1.13) Inter (8.50) Plzen (19.0)22:00: (4.00) Ajax (3.80) Liverpool (1.95)22:00: (1.23) Napoli (6.50) Rangers (12.0)22:00: (1.80) Atl.Madrid (3.60) Leverkusen (4.60)22:00: (2.40) Barcelona (3.60) Bayern (3.00)22:00: (2.50) Eintr.Frankfurt (3.30) Olympique Marseille (3.10)22:00: (1.50) Tottenham (4.50) Sporting (7.25)***odds are subject to change***