Villarreal qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League by slapping Juventus at home (3-0). Chelsea, for their part, overthrew Lille (2-1) to also continue their journey.
© AFP
Villarreal will be at the meeting of the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Another failure for Juventus! The Bianconeri will miss the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the third consecutive year, humiliated Wednesday at home by Villarreal (3-0), a defeat synonymous with elimination after the draw in the first leg in Spain (1-1 ).
Massimiliano Allegri, the follower of pragmatic victory, took a sacred lesson in efficiency from his Spanish counterpart Unai Emery: his “Yellow Submarine” surprised Juve in the last quarter of an hour on a penalty transformed by Gerard Moreno (78th), a goal from a corner from Pau Torres (85th) then a new penalty from Arnaut Danjuma (90+2nd).
With Cristiano Ronaldo, Juve had already stopped at this stage for the past two seasons, beaten by Lyon then FC Porto, despite already returning home matches. Without the Portuguese superstar, who did no better at Manchester United, the Bianconeri still failed – and in large widths – against an opponent within their reach on paper.
Here is Italy wiped off the European map, once again at the door of the roller coaster and Juve sent back to its limits in the game.
Dusan Vlahovic, responsible for making people forget “CR7”, was unsuccessful this time despite several chances in the first period and it was all of Juve who were lost in the second period, unable to pack the match despite the ball control. The Serb fell on a vigilant Geronimo Rulli (20th, 35th) and touched the bar on a superb deflection at the near post which would have changed a lot of things (21st). The Spanish goalkeeper also pulled off a fine save on a fine header from Alavaro Morata at the start of the match (11th).
But Juve knew they had to be wary of these Spanish techniques, who circulated the ball very well for 20 minutes and played the shots thoroughly. On the best of them, Lo Celso missed the frame by nothing (22nd).
All of these first-half ups and downs were swept away by an unexpected second half, which saw Juve cringe on increasingly low and wait-and-see Spaniards in their side. “Dybala Dybala”, we started to hear in the stands, while the Argentinian accelerated his warm-up and Rabiot tried two shots to animate a match that fell into a false rhythm (58th, 59th).
When Allegri finally tried something by throwing Dybala (78th), it was already too late: the match had just tipped in favor of the Spaniards, on a penalty obtained by Francis Coquelin for a late tackle from Daniele Rugani, transformed by Gerard Moreno . It was the beginning of the end for the tetanized Bianconeri who yielded twice more, leaving Villarreal to join Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, other representatives of a triumphant Spain, in the quarter-finals.
Juve, behind in the league, only has the Italian Cup to save its season. Not sure that’s enough for the president of Juve Andrea Agnelli, the one who still dreams aloud of the Super League.
Chelsea wall
Eye-catching but messy, Lille reached its limits in the Champions League, with a 2-1 defeat against Chelsea, letting the European champion slip away in the quarters, already winning 2-0 in the first leg.
Chelsea may be entangled in a politico-financial imbroglio after the British sanctions aimed at its Russian owner Roman Abramovich, Thomas Tuchel’s team has resources: the defending champion responded by Christian Pulisic (45th + 3) to the fervor born from the opening of the score of Burak Yilmaz on penalty (38th), before settling the affair on a lucky goal from Cesar Azpilicueta (71st).
Other teams than Chelsea might have sunk into the warm atmosphere of the Pierre-Mauroy stadium. But not the Blues, European champions and club world champions, who have seen others and join Manchester City and Liverpool in the quarter-finals. That’s three English teams in the European top 8, like last year, against no French club at this stage for the first time since 2019 and only the third time in 10 years – PSG having also fallen in the eighth.
It will soon be time to ask ourselves under what conditions Chelsea, whose travel expenses are now strictly regulated by London, will go to their future opponent, who will be chosen on Friday in the draw in Nyon. But the Blues will be in the quarters and not the Lille, who did not deserve over the two matches but were sent back to their shortcomings, in terms of talent or depth of the workforce.
At home, Lille will have had the merit of “believing in the feat”, in the words of Jocelyn Gourvennec, with careful tactics and a united block. In this scheme, it is the ghost Burak Yilmaz (36 years old) who played the role of discounter and accelerator (7th, 11th, 21st). But Chelsea never panicked. His defense of three has often turned into a wall of five defenders, protected by a bastion of three defensive midfielders (Kanté-Jorginho-Kovacic) in a Vauban citadel style, despite the rapid injury exit of Danish defender Andreas Christensen (33rd).
It was a twist of fate, more than a controlled action, that allowed Lille to open the scoring: London midfielder Jorginho hit the ball with his arm and the referee, after using video assistance at the arbitration (VAR), whistled the necessary penalty, allowing Yilmaz to open the scoring in force (38th). Half the way seemed done and the northern stadium roared with fervor … for eight short minutes, until Jorginho was forgiven in the dying seconds of the first period. Too alone at the entrance to the Lille area, the Italo-Brazilian launched Pulisic, whose crossfire ended up at the bottom and froze the atmosphere (45th + 3).
Everything had to be redone for Lille. And then LOSC suffered two cold snaps at the start of the second half, with the simultaneous injuries of Botman and Celik (58th). And when Lille could have recovered in the sense of the feat, on a dribbling festival from Jonathan Bamba, Yilmaz’s header was off target (52nd). As for that of Xeka, she finished on the post (63rd). Conversely, London’s success was maximum: cross from the incoming Mason Mount for his captain César Azpilicueta, whose recovery – from the knee! – deceived Lille goalkeeper Leo Jardim (71st).
At 2-1, the Mastiffs missed three goals to hope for an improbable extension. But there was also too much missing, technically, physically, globally, to hope for better than this elimination with honors.