Juventus 3 - Benfica 4: First reaction and random observations

A few times after launching the old Paramount+ broadcast, they released a teaser for their new series on Sylvester Stallone’s streaming platform “Tulsa King”.

Honestly, this looks like a much better hour than anything Juventus ran there on Tuesday night.

Any glimmer of hope Juve had on the final day of the group stage means nothing when it comes to the Champions League qualifiers. Juventus didn’t just lose to Benfica, it didn’t look like they got off the bus, except for a few minutes of the first half, while the Portuguese side was arming Max Allegri’s team.

“It was a well-deserved 4-3 defeat, if anything,” Juve said to himself before trying some second-half comeback stuff. And the thing about it is, it could have been much, much worse. Like a lot.

But to see Juventus come out and play like they did before Samuel Iling-Junior’s comeback bid in the second half, no matter how realistic hopes are that they’ll keep their chances in the Champions League qualifiers alive, it shows you what it’s like. There was bad stuff for most of this trip to Portugal. The loss was down to both how they set up on Tuesday night and how they came out completely straight, allowing Benfica to build an impressive 3-1 lead at halftime – they needed to know how the latter was doing. half played.

Overall, though, this was bad, a reluctant 20-minute run of youthful ignorance.

They might as well be polite.

The fact that they’re missing two goals halfway through a game they came in knowing they had to win tells you everything about this current Juventus team. So is the fact that things only got better when Allegri waved the white flag and brought in three youngsters in Illing-Junior, Matias Soulé and Fabio Miretti. a little too. (And Benfica was still hitting targets pretty hard at that point, so it’s not like they just shifted things to cruise control before those backups.)

We are not here for moral victories in games like these. No, we’re done. There was a result Juventus needed to keep their hopes of keeping the Champions League qualifying round alive and it didn’t happen. They knew the situation and got into a situation that was almost impossible to get out of in the next 45 minutes in a half.

In this manager.

So are the players.

This applies to everyone involved.

Falling behind so quickly and in this way was another example of the systematic problems hindering this squad. Whether the manager comes out and arranges that they don’t lose a match that needs to be won instead of winning, or players make simple mistakes or don’t play that well, crime is everywhere.

We’ve said that a lot this season (and last season) (and the season before that), but Juventus have been their own worst enemy so many times that it’s no surprise they’re where they are now. . Juventus let Benfica give the game to them. And because they were a good team, Benfica paid the price for Juve. This is what you have to do. Juventus should have come out like this.

Instead, Juve seemed to have a life of significance as a 19-year-old Englishman who made his second senior team appearance ran wildly on the left wing.

As a result, Juventus deserve it with their Champions League group stage match. That’s all they deserve because it’s definitely not fighting for a place in the last 16.

random thoughts and observations

• Match announcers said this after Arek Milik threw the Illing-Junior midfielder to 4-2: “A rare moment of quality from them.” If that doesn’t sum up Juventus’ 2022-23 season to date, I don’t know what else would.
• SAMUEL ILLING-JUNIOR, THE WORLD’S BEST PLAYER, PROVE ME I WAS WRONG
• At least we could have shouted that the field conditions were terrible or something, the last time Juve bounced off the Champions League in the group stage. This time? It’s up to you, Max.
• The manager that Juve was last eliminated from the Champions League at this stage of the match? A man named Roberto Mancini.
• The man who currently runs Juventus should no longer be a manager at Juventus. This took long enough.
• The thing is, we’ve said that more than a few times this season already. We know that Andrea Agnelli doesn’t like to make manager changes in the middle of a season – especially if the manager in question is making a lot of money – but that should be the exception to the rule. This was a completely fireproof offense for most of the game.
• Also: Juventus leaving the Champions League before the knockout round is certainly an ignitable offense – especially considering how the team has played for most of the year.
• How did Benfica end? Only The four goals are still a bit surprising to me.
• Juan Cuadrado returned to the average after a good performance against Empoli.
• Another target of Weston McKennie after people on the internet said he was worthless.
• Maybe not the kind of game that will get Federico Gatti to his Champions League debut? I know Alex Sandro came in conditions where he was injured and unfit to start, but Daniele Rugani had to be the better game here, right? I mean, Gatti hasn’t played in over a month and he really hasn’t played this season, so why send him to this game? I don’t understand you.
• Alex Sandro was in form enough to come into play in the second half, for what it’s worth.
• I think Danilo should have taken red for that interception that caused the yellow. It was baaaaad and how his studs went straight into the man’s leg. Bad, bad, bad.
• Moise Kean made seven touches.
• Matias Soulé had eight touches.
• Leonardo Bonucci … yes, the kind of performance that reminds him again that he is 35 years old and that he should no longer have a normal start for this team. The problem is, I’m not sure there is a better option at this point knowing how little confidence Allegri has in releasing Gatti more often.
• Filip Kostic had lots of crosses, lots of key passes, but he had a terrible passing hit. Think folks.
• Juventus may tweet all the “we’re still one” kind of photos they want, but this game is another reminder of how far they are from being an elite club again.