Juventus have qualified for the knockout stage of the Europa League despite a defeat against Paris Saint-Germain. Kylian Mbappé opened the score in Turin, after which Leonardo Bonucci scored the deserved equalizer. In the second half, Juventus went on the hunt for victory, but only Nuno Mendes scored: 1-2. Because Maccabi Haifa also went down against Benfica (1-4), the Italians will go to the Europa League.
Juventus came out of the dressing room very eagerly and immediately became a threat via Arkadiusz Milik, who did not get his shot on target. A few minutes later, Manuel Locatelli was close to the opening goal, but the Italian’s flaming shot went just wide. With PSG’s first attack it was immediately hit. Mbappé broke free from Federico Gatti, evaded Locatelli’s sliding and shot in through the right post: 0-1. Locatelli then again had a nice shot in the house. This time, the midfielder saw his attempt fly just wide of the crossing.
A setback for PSG was the failure of Fabián Ruiz, who had to be replaced by Renato Sanches after an apparently innocent duel with Adrien Rabiot. After the substitution, the Juventus team became dangerous through Juan Cuadrado, who saw his shot towards the short corner go just wide. PSG, in turn, was dangerous through Lionel Messi, who came across Wojciech Szczesny on Mbappe’s pass. Five minutes before half time the deserved equalizer came after all. A nice pass from Locatelli landed on Cuadrado’s head, who put the ball in front of the goal in one go. Bonucci could walk in there: 1-1.
After the break, Sergio Ramos had an opportunity to score. However, the Spaniard’s shot could be turned away by Szczesny. PSG coach Christophe Galtier decided to exchange Juan Bernat for Mendes and that turned out to be a golden change. Not much later, the Portuguese was too quick for Cuadrado and then pushed into the long corner in a controlled manner: 1-2. Federico Chiesa made his comeback as a substitute fifteen minutes before the end, after he tore his cruciate ligament in January. Locatelli thought he would make it 2-2 from a rebound, but he turned out to be offside. The deserved equalizer would never come again.
????????????????, a gold exchange! ??
Nuno Mendes can come in and sees his bet come in a minute later for the 2-1 ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #JUVPSG pic.twitter.com/uANkZRyF2w— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Nov 2, 2022
Maccabi Haifa – Benfica 1-6
Benfica started the match strongly and after ten minutes they had the first big chance via Gonçalo Ramos. Where he still found the post with that chance, a little later on a pass from Nicolás Otamendi: 0-1. The lead would last only five minutes. After hands-on at Benfica, referee Anthony Taylor was sent to the screen, where he decided to award a penalty. Surinamese international Tjaronn Chery did not fail from eleven meters: 1-1. Benfica had opportunities before the break through, among others, Petar Musa, who did not have his sights on sharp.
If it wasn’t already in the bag, it is now! ??
Fumbling at Maccabi Haifa put the ball in the feet of Neres and he in turn reaches Rafa Silva ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #MACBEN pic.twitter.com/coDfm2MlfS
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Nov 2, 2022
After the break, the team of trainer Roger Schmidt found the net more than once. Musa managed to find the net this time, after his header flew in on a pass from Alexander Bah: 1-2. In the fifteen minutes after that, the Portuguese closed the game. First Alejandro Grimaldo was accurate from a nice free kick, after which Rafa managed to place Silva in the right corner on a pass from ex-Ajacied David Neres. In the final phase Benfica managed to strike twice. First Bah brought the ball to Henrique Aráujo, who managed to place the ball in the top left corner. João Mário also made it 1-6 in injury time with a nice shot.