UCL: Villarreal eliminate Juventus with late blitz; Chelsea advance
Having fallen before the quarterfinals against Olympique Lyonnais and Porto in the previous two seasons, in-form Juventus, who had lost just once in their last 21 matches in all competitions, were firm favourites to progress.
Having fallen before the quarterfinals against Olympique Lyonnais and Porto in the previous two seasons, in-form Juventus, who had lost just once in their last 21 matches in all competitions, were firm favourites to progress.
Having fallen before the quarterfinals against Olympique Lyonnais and Porto in the previous two seasons, in-form Juventus, who had lost just once in their last 21 matches in all competitions, were firm favourites to progress.
Turin: Villarreal scored three late goals to secure a stunning 3-0 Champions League second-leg victory at Juventus on Wednesday, condemning the Serie A side to a 4-1 aggregate loss and a last-16 exit for the third successive season.
Having fallen before the quarterfinals against Olympique Lyonnais and Porto in the previous two seasons, in-form Juventus, who had lost just once in their last 21 matches in all competitions, were firm favourites to progress.
Juve dominated the first half and were unfortunate not to go into the break in front after Dusan Vlahovic's brilliant flicked effort came back off the crossbar, but they could not keep up the pressure in the second period.
Villarreal were content to sit back and wait for their moment, which came in the 78th minute after the visitors were awarded a penalty following a VAR review, with substitute Gerard Moreno, who had only just come on, squeezing the spot kick home.
Juve threw on Argentine striker Paulo Dybala as they looked to level the tie, but goals down the other end from defender Pau Torres and another penalty, this time converted by Arnaut Danjuma, completed a famous win for Unai Emery's team.
It is the first time Emery has progressed from a tie in the knockout stages of the Champions League, while Villarreal had not qualified for the quarterfinals of the competition since 2008-09.
"I actually missed the last penalty I took in a game, but everyone had my back and I knew I was going to score," Moreno said.
"Once we got ahead we were more comfortable. We showed that we are always able to compete with the best at the highest level, whoever is on the pitch."
Juventus came into the last 16 having also enjoyed an impressive group-stage campaign where they finished top ahead of the current holders Chelsea.
Chelsea made light of their off-pitch problems to reach the Champions League quarterfinals by beating Lille 2-1 away to complete a 4-1 aggregate victory.
The Premier League side, playing amid sanctions imposed on their Russian owner Roman Abramovich following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, eased through thanks to goals by Christian Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta.
French champions Lille dominated for long spells and opened the scoring thanks to a Burak Yilmaz penalty in the opening half, but lacked precision up front and paid dearly for lapses in concentration.
Chelsea, operating on a special licence from the British government that has limited their spending and impacted their operations, showed great composure to ease into the last eight.