Juve crash out of Champions League
Porto advanced to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League despite suffering a 3-2 defeat in extra time to Juventus on Tuesday at Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy.
The Portuguese giants moved on via away goals on a 4-4 aggregate scoreline; after having won 2-1 in the first leg.
They’ve lost five finals in the interim. Now, they’ve been eliminated in the last 16 for the second consecutive season. In 2018-19, they were dumped out in the quarters; by Ajax and later by Lyon in 2019-20 in the round of 16.
Juve actually had a chance to win it late; after Adrien Rabiot brought the team within a goal thanks to his 117th-minute header. And Andrea Pirlo’s team came close, but it was the Portuguese giants who once again played giant slayer on the European stage.
After Porto went up 19 minutes in, Juve got the two goals they needed, both from Federico Chiesa, to force the extra period but could not get the job done.
– Played for an hour with 10 men 🟥
– 38-year-old Pepe played the game of his life 💪
– Sergio Oliveira scores the biggest goal of his career ⚽️
– Held CR7 to 0 goals in back-to-back games 🔒What an amazing performance from FC Porto 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/HXxW1rsJCj
— International Champions Cup (@IntChampionsCup) March 9, 2021
Juve had numerous chances to win the game, even before it went to extra-time, with Ronaldo surprisingly mistiming the kind of header he normally buries with ease.
Almost inevitably, the home side was punished for their profligacy when Sergio struck again; this time with a long-range free-kick; that Wojciech Szczesny really should have saved even accounting for the shameful disintegration of his wall, with Ronaldo again culpable.
Juventus are in the final of the Coppa Italia, but in the league; the side who have won the last nine Serie A titles look a shadow of their former selves.
With the gap to leaders Inter Milan at a worrying 10 points; Pirlo’s position at the top has repeatedly been brought into question.
