Juventus had been crushed 2-0 at house 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 high eight and wanted a giant win in opposition to Benfica, however the Portuguese aspect 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 drive a top-class save from Anatoliy Trubin as Juve turned defence into assault.
Schjelderup got here shut once more, drawing a fantastic cease from Mattia Perin within the Juventus purpose.
As Juve struggled to comprise Benfica, their night time worsened when Pierre Kalulu picked up an damage and couldn’t proceed.
Seconds after the Frenchman was subbed off, Vangelis Pavlidis smashed the ball house 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 group 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 battle to create clear-cut possibilities, whereas Orkun Kökçü got here agonisingly near scoring a second for Benfica.
Khephren Thuram had an excellent likelihood to tug one again for Juventus from a rebound, however Trubin pulled off one other fantastic 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 web with a fantastic effort.
The second purpose deflated the Bianconeri’s confidence, and regardless of their efforts, they had been unable to seek out the purpose that they had labored so onerous for, in the end succumbing to a different disappointing defeat.