UCL R16: Juventus crash out of the Champions League as Villareal stun them at home
With not much to separate the two sides for the majority of the 75 minutes – barring a shot off the crossbar from Dusan Vlahovic – the deadlock was broken 12 minutes from time when Moreno smashed home from the penalty spot after Francis Coquelin was adjudged to have been fouled inside the area following a VAR check.
Juve’s hopes were then completed dashed when Pau Torres scored a second, tapping the ball in from close range during a corner to make it 3-1 on aggregate from a corner in the 85th minute.
Then, Villarreal were awarded a second penalty, which Danjuma converted to seal a superb win for Unai Emery’s side. It’s the third time in the Spanish club’s history that they’ve made the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite club competition.
Read: UCLR 16: Chelsea through to the quarterfinals after a gallant display against Lille
Allegri has faced criticism of late for Juventus’ style of play both domestically and in Europe, but the Italian doubled down on Wednesday and his team put on another underwhelming show against a Villarreal side who were more than happy to sit deep and leave their hosts to have possession that they were unable to do anything with.
Juventus’ slow tempo appeared to be playing into the LaLiga Santander side’s hands for the majority of the evening, with Unai Emery’s team running the clock down whenever they could in the first half and through the second, even with the scores level at 1-1.
The Italian side failed to pose any real trouble for Geronimo Rulli in Villarreal’s goal, despite Dusan Vlahovic and Alvaro Morata starting together in attack. Paulo Dybala came on as a second-half substitute.
Villarreal were gifted the chance to go ahead when Daniele Rugani brought down Francis Coquelin in the area and Gerard Moreno, having just stepped onto the pitch moments earlier, converted despite Wojciech Szczesny getting two hands to his effort.
That lead was doubled eight minutes later and with five to play as Pau Torres converted from inside the Juventus box after some woeful defending. Matthijs de Ligt conceded another penalty in the last minute of the 90 with his best impression of a goalkeeper, allowing Arnaut Danjuma to convert.
