Juventus exit Champions League again, looking less 'elite' than ever

Eliminated so early from the Champions League for the first time since 2013, Juventus did not look like a superclub against Benfica.

Twice European champions, 37 times national champions and 26 times domestic cup winners, they are among the big three who have dominated their domestic game since the 1930s. And now, with one game to spare, Benfica are qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League. This is the schadenfreude heard around the world.

They have won the Portuguese league one more time than Juventus have won Serie A, and the Taca de Portugal 14 times more than the Old Lady has won the Coppa Italia. And although Juventus have won three UEFA Cups and a Cup Winners' Cup, the last was 30 years ago.

Would Benfica have made the cut for European Super League version 1.0? Probably not, but let's not kid ourselves that this whole conspiracy is about something as antiquated as merit.

There is no doubt that Benfica have justified their progress from the group stage. This season's Champions League has been nothing short of a disaster for Juve, with just one victory in their first four games before arriving at the Estadio da Luz. After losing to PSG and at home to Benfica, they eventually secured a 3-1 win at home to Maccabi Haifa but followed that up by losing the return leg in Israel.

And what followed was heralded by a botched 15-minute opener of misplaced passes, players being needlessly caught offside and not hearing the calls of others.

When Antonio Silva gave Benfica the lead in the 18th minute, he came on with a header under so little pressure that the entire Juventus defense might as well have been replaced by bogeymen without anyone notices.

Benfica could only hold their lead for four minutes, with Dusan Vlahovic and Moise Kean combining to get the ball over the line on the second attempt (the goal eventually went to Kean). The decision was delayed by a lengthy VAR review which ended with it being confirmed that Vlahovic was played by a stray big toe. But the half-time, the draw and consequently Juventus' future in the Champions League this year did indeed revolve around a hugely controversial decision.

For three or four minutes, it seemed like they had regained some of their swagger, as if scoring a goal had woken up some dormant muscles for a while. But then came a penalty that felt harsh, for the handball against Juan Cuadrado when it looked like he probably knew very little about the ball hitting his arm.

Joao Mario, who had every right to give a damn, converted the kick with ease.

The foundations were starting to crumble, and 10 minutes later Rafa Silva was throwing a sort of backheel that almost looked like the "free play" version of a Panenka. Given the crucial importance of this match for Juventus, it seemed absolutely inexplicable that their defense had been so passive for long stretches of play. Two of Benfica's three goals in the first half came with the Juventus defense strangely static, as if playing against a training drill rather than an effervescent young first-class attack with a lot to prove.

Juve came out after half-time looking like a team that had received a rocket in the collective back, and for five minutes their form was better and they pressed as a team from the front. But after 50 minutes and five seconds Benfica broke through the center of their defense and Silva lifted the ball over the rushing Wojciech Szczęsny...