The Champions League remains the best sporting competition in the world for high-quality drama, and there was more evidence of that on display as Juventus were stunningly knocked out of the competition at the hands of Portuguese champions FC Porto.
The Portuguese side travelled to Turin with a narrow 2-1 lead from the first leg two weeks ago, but many expected Cristiano Ronaldo to turn on the style and save the Old Lady from another embarrassing knockout defeat in the knockout rounds of the Champions League. However, the superstar failed to deliver the performance required from him in an action-packed night at the Allianz Stadium.
Soccer News: Juventus Stunned In Extra-Time
There were very few people that gave Porto a chance of qualifying for the next round of the Champions League going into the game last night, as Juventus needed to just win the game 1-0 to progress. Any chance of Juventus having an easy passage through to the next round were over after 20 minutes when Sergio Oliveira scored from the penalty spot.
The opening goal seemed to stun Juventus, as they didn’t get going until the second half of the contest. Federico Chiesa levelled the scores on the night in the 49th minute. A red card for Mehdi Taremi looked to have changed the game for Juventus less than six minutes later. Juventus soon pulled level on aggregate with an excellent header from Chiesa after the hour mark. However, they weren’t able to get the winning goal in regulation and the game moved into extra time.
Soccer News: Porto Seize Their Chance
Very few that watched the game would argue against Porto’s determination deserving the extra half an hour, and they had the best chance to win the game in the first half. However, their moment final came with just five minutes remaining as Oliveira’s free-kick snuck into the Juventus goal meaning that the Old Lady needed to score two more to win the game.
That impossible challenge looked slightly more possible less than two minutes later as Adrien Rabiot headed home to kick start a breathless final couple of minutes. However, the Porto defence stood firm, and were able to celebrate another massive victory in the Champions League against all odds. In the other game on the night, Borussia Dortmund cruised through to the next round after drawing 2-2 on the night to seal a 5-4 win on aggregate. Erling Haaland scored both goals on the night for Dortmund.
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