Luca Bruno / Associated Press
Porto advanced to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, despite suffering a 3-2 loss in overtime to Juventus on Tuesday at the Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy.
The Portuguese giants moved on with goals away from home on an aggregate score of 4-4, after winning 2-1 in the first leg.
Sergio Oliveira delivered the decisive blow in the free kick after 115 minutes. His long-range shot went very close to the post and went past Wojciech Szczesny.
Adrien Rabiot scored for the hosts two minutes later to add even more drama. Juventus’ attempt to recover has lost momentum, however. A pair of Federico Chiesa was not enough.
Porto seemed to put a foot in the quarter-finals thanks to a goal from Oliveira from the penalty spot in the 19th minute. The contact between Merih Demiral and Mehdi Taremi was minimal, but enough for the referee to take the penalty.
Overall, it was a terrible first half for Juventus.
Juve coach Andrea Pirlo probably had that one goal deficit in mind when he listed Cristiano Ronaldo as a substitute for a 3-1 victory over Lazio on Saturday. It was a big decision, as a defeat would almost certainly have dashed any hope that the club would win the league’s tenth consecutive title.
At first, the rest that Ronaldo received did not seem to make much difference.
With life in the Champions League at risk, Juventus had no choice but to move everything forward in the second half. They looked like a different team almost immediately after the game restarted.
After 49 minutes, Ronaldo stepped in to turn the ball over for Chiesa, who kicked unstoppably into the top right corner.
The momentum was starting to shift towards Juventus even before Porto faced yet another major setback.
Taremi already had a yellow card when he kicked the ball away after the referee whistled in the 53rd minute. Within a practically empty court, the Iranian striker could not claim that he did not hear the whistle in this case and won the second yellow card.
A few minutes later, Chiesa almost took advantage of the man when entering the defense of Porto. He failed to make good contact with the ball in front of an open goal and saw his shot hit the post.
Juan Cuadrado gave the Italian winger another chance in the 63rd minute, and this time he did not miss. Chiesa headed towards Agustin Marchesin.
From that moment on, the question seemed to be whether Juventus would find a fourth goal (in total) during the regulation or whether it would need an extension.
Chiesa deceived Jesus Corona in the 18-yard box, just for Marchesin to make a point-blank save after 82 minutes. In extra time, Alvaro Morata was a little out of play to end a beautiful finish in the bottom right corner, and Cuadrado had a left-foot carambola on the crossbar.
Of course, Porto only needed one goal to finish the tie effectively. They lived on the razor’s edge for much of Tuesday night, but did just enough to frustrate Juve.
The result is simply a disaster for Pirlo’s team, who are out of the Champions League round of 16 for the second consecutive season.
Signing Ronaldo in 2018 was a sign of Juve’s desperation in search of European glory, having dominated the domestic market. Instead, they remain unable to overcome the obstacle after reaching the final in 2015 and 2017.
What is the next?
Porto awaits the result of the draw for the quarterfinals of March 19 to meet the opponent for the next round. About that, hopes to regain ground on the championship leader, Sporting, on Sunday, at home against Paços de Ferreira. Juventus tries to narrow the 10-point gap between them and Serie A leaders Inter Milan on Saturday against Cagliari.