Juventus beat Benfica 2-0 in front of home support at the Allianz Stadium
Old Lady remain alive in contention for automatic qualification to the knockouts
Khephren Thuram and Weston McKennie scored goals for Juve
Juventus defeated Benfica 2-0 at the Allianz Stadium to revive their hopes of progressing in the Champions League and severely dent their opponents' in the process.
Luciano Spalletti's side started the day in 17th place, but goals from Khephren Thuram and Weston McKennie moved them up to 15th, with the teams between ninth and 24th going through to the knockout-round play-off phase.
Juve are just one point off the top eight and automatic qualification, meanwhile, but Benfica – who missed a late penalty through Vangelis Pavlidis – are now down in 29th and two points outside the cut-off point with one round of games to play.
Fine saves from Anatoliy Trubin and Michele Di Gregorio, to keep out Kenan Yildiz and Heorhiy Sudakov respectively, were the highlights of a low-key first half in Turin.
The hosts found the all-important breakthrough 10 minutes into the second half as Thuram dribbled into the box, composed himself and picked out the bottom-left corner from 15 yards.
A second goal followed nine minutes later through fellow midfielder McKennie, who brilliantly exchanged passes with Jonathan David just inside the box and made no mistake in finishing past Trubin.
Frederik Aursnes hit the frame of the goal from a corner, shortly before Gleison Bremer was penalised for a foul on Leandro Barreiro inside the box, but Pavlidis slipped when taking the resulting spot-kick and sent it wide.
Data Debrief: McKennie Continues Scoring Streak As Juventus Win Again In Europe
Juventus' Champions League hopes looked bleak after failing to win their first four league phase matches, though they have since won three in a row – their best run since November 2021.
Thuram's goal was his first in the Champions League on his 17th outing, while McKennie's strike makes him the first Juve player to score in three successive matches in the competition since Federico Chiesa more than five years ago.
Benfica's penalty miss was their first in the Champions League since November 2012, having netted from 14 in a row previously, as they ended the game with a slightly better expected goals (xG) value than their opponents – 1.38 compared to 1.36 – but had nothing to show for it.
