Benfica have knocked Juventus out of the Champions League after a stunning 4-3 win.
Antonio Silva,
Joao Mario and Rafa Silva put the Portuguese side 3-1 up at half-time,
with Moise Kean netting for Juve.
Rafa Silva made it 4-1 five minutes after the break and although Massimiliano Allegri’s men pulled two back late on through Arkadiusz Milik and Weston McKennie,
Watch Benfica goals here!!
the Eagles held on to progress to the knockout stages,
while Juventus are eliminated.For the first time in nearly a decade,
Juventus has failed to advance from the Champions League group stage.
Rafa Silva scored twice as Benfica handed Juventus its fourth loss in five matches with a 4-3 win Tuesday to seal a spot in the knockout stage.
In a wild first half,
Benfica got goals from António Silva,
João Mário and Rafa Silva while all Juventus could produce was a momentary equalizer from Moise Kean.
Silva — who recently announced his retirement from Portugal’s national team and will not play at the upcoming World Cup in Qatar — added another goal early in the second half and also hit the post in the 86th.
Arkadiusz Milik pulled one back for Juventus in the 77th and Weston McKennie added another two minutes later,
with both late goals set up by substitute Samuel Iling-Junior.
Benfica reached the Champions League knockouts on Tuesday
after winning an exciting contest with Juventus 4-3 and sending the Italians out of the competition.
Antonio Silva’s early header,
a Joao Mario penalty just before the half-hour mark and Rafa Silva’s classy brace kept Benfica second in Group H,
eight points ahead of third-placed Juve with one game to play.
Roger Schmidt’s side are unbeaten in all competitions this season
and can beat their group-stage points record of 12 with a win at bottom side Maccabi Haifa next week.
Benfica are level on 11 points with leaders Paris Saint-Germain
and have a chance to top the group next week,
although they would need Juve to get a result against the French champions in Turin after being dumped out at the group stage for the first time in nine years.
Juve travelled to Lisbon knowing that only a win would give them any hope of making it through to the last 16,
but although Moise Kean had them level in the 21st minute the away side never had the chance to claim the three points.
Another bad night for Juve was somewhat alleviated by the fight shown late on,
with quickfire Arkadiusz Milik and Weston McKennie goals and a big push for the win in the final 15 minutes turning what looked like being a thumping into merely a painful elimination.
