Benfica – Juventus 4-3: The Eagles of Vlachodimos subdue the giants and knock them out of the knockout stages for the first time in 8 years

Benfica were steel for another European night this year, beating Juventus with an impressive 4-3 in Luz on Matchday 5 of the Champions League group stage, Europe’s biggest club competition, forcing the Vecchia signora to end in the final (vs Paris ) to play a survival game to continue in the Europa League.

It is even worth noting that Odysseus Vlachodimos’ team qualified for the institution’s knockout stages for the second straight season, while the Bianconeri, on the other hand, conceded for the first time in their Champions League history in the first three half of their game and were eliminated from the knockout stages for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

The match

Benfica, after winning their first-round match in Turin, went into the Luz pitch against Juventus with plenty of confidence and opened the scoring in the 17th minute when Enzo Fernandez crossed from the left and Antonio Silva Cesny’s first goal headed the Eagles (1st minute). :0).

The home side’s joy was short-lived, however, as the equalizer came in the 21st minute, Vlahovic needing a double effort to defeat Odysseus Vlachodimos from the top of the box and wait two minutes before confirming the 1-1 draw became. , with VAR investigating whether it was the – exposed – Ken who last touched the ball before it came to rest in the net.

Despite the coolness of the quick equaliser, Schmidt’s men were undaunted and took the lead again in the 28th minute when Cuadrado found the ball with one hand in his team’s penalty area and Joao Mario punished him by putting the ball into the net from the penalty spot (2-1).

Four minutes later, “Luz” collapsed after the 3-1, with Joao Mario becoming the creator and Rafa Silva scoring a stunning goal with a heel in apotheosis.

With this result, the first part ended, in which Silva took the baton and gave the friends of the eagles new joy in the 50th minute. Then, when he received an excellent vertical pass from Grimaldo and came out against Sesni to “poke” the ball with a wonderful right hand, sending it into Vecchia Signora’s net to make it 4-1.

From that point until the 75th minute, Benfica were in full control, confining Juventus to a passive role, but somewhere there the wounded beast decided to respond to turn the game into a rodeo in the final.

In the 77th minute, Milik took advantage of Ealing-Junior’s cross from the left and reduced the lead to 4-2 with a shot on the move, while in the 79th minute McKenney took advantage of the Portuguese’s confusion in the penalty area and converted it to 4-. 3 with a strong shot.

The final quarter was a thrill as Benfica missed a huge chance of a fifth goal in the 86th minute when Rafa Silva’s shot hit the left post and Juventus aimed for the equalizer, but Sule’s shot at 88′ sent the ball just wide the left post of Vlachodimos.

This was also the final major stage of the game, with Luz celebrating Benfica’s superb qualification in the final and Juventus now awaiting Paris at the Allianz Stadium for a one-game final if they wish to continue through the Europa League window in Europe .

Benfica: Vlachodemos, Ba (81′ Gilberto Junior), A. Silva, Otamendi, Grimaldo, Fernandes, Luis, R. Silva (87′ Moussa), Mario (90′ Ciquinho), Oursnes, Ramos (87′ Neres)

JUVENTUS: Cesni, Danilo, Bonucci (60′ Sandro), Gatti, Cuadrado (60′ Miretti), Makeni, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic (70′ Ealing-Junior), Vlahovic (70′ Sule), Ken (46′ Milik)

The results of the 5th round:

• Paris – Maccabi Haifa 7-2 (19′ 45′ Messi, 32′ 64′ Mbappe, 35′ Neymar, 67′ auto. Goldberg, 84′ Soler / 38′ 50′ Sec)
• Benfica – Juventus 4-3 (17′ Antonio Silva, 28′ Pen Joao Mario, 35′ 50′ Rafa Silva / 21′ Vlahovic, 77′ Milik, 79′ McKenney)

The schedule for the 6th matchday:

• 02/11 22:00 Juventus-Paris
• 02/11 22:00 Maccabi Haifa – Benfica Lisbon