History made in Turin: cool Thuram and the gang make Mourinho suffer

Some curses feel eternal. Benfica had been one of them for Juventus.

Just one win in nine meetings, five Champions League defeats in a row. Until Wednesday night.

Without brilliance, but with authority, the Old Lady finally broke free. Juventus defeated Benfica 2-0 on Matchday 7, sealed qualification for the knockouts and shut the door on the Lisbon side's European hopes.

Khephren Thuram opened the scoring with his first-ever Champions League goal, while Weston McKennie finished the job.

Juventus still don't look like a true contender. The ceiling feels close, and the knockout phase may expose their limits. But the numbers are undeniable: three consecutive Champions League wins for the first time since 2021.

Once the king of Europe, Jose Mourinho now keeps running into the same wall. Facing Luciano Spalletti for the ninth time, the Portuguese coach failed to beat the Italian for a sixth straight match, after winning their first three duels.

The game was decided in a ruthless ten-minute spell early in the second half. Ironically, it came just after Benfica's best period. A huge McKennie chance saved by Trubin was the warning. One minute later, Thuram was given space on the edge of the box and punished it. Soon after, McKennie struck again - his third straight Champions League game on the scoresheet.

Benfica never recovered. A late penalty in the 80th minute offered false hope, but Vangelis Pavlidis slipped at the decisive moment, producing a miss straight out of the Champions League blooper reels.

Benfica still aren't mathematically out, but now need a miracle against Real Madrid. Juventus, meanwhile, head to Monaco dreaming of a direct ticket to the last 16.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 7

Tuesday

Kairat Almaty - Club Brugge 1-4 (0-2)

/Sadybekov 90+2 - Stankovic 32, Vanaken 38, Vermant 74, Mechele 84/

Bodo/Glimt - Manchester City 3-1 (2-0)

/Hogh 22, 24, Hauge 58 - Cherki 60/

Copenhagen - Napoli 1-1 (0-1)

/Larsson 72 - McTominay 39/

Inter Milan - Arsenal 1-3 (1-2)

/Sucic 18 - Jesus 10, 31, Gyokeres 84/

Real Madrid - Monaco 6-1 (2-0)

/Mbappe 5, 26, Mastantuono 51, Kehrer 55 og, Vinicius Jr 63, Bellingham 81 - Teze 72/

Olympiacos - Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 (2-0)

/Costinha 2, Taremi 45+1/

Sporting Lisbon - PSG 2-1 (0-0)

/Suarez 74, 90+1 - Kvaratskhelia 79/

Tottenham - Dortmund 2-0 (2-0)

/Romero 14, Solanke 37/

Villarreal - Ajax 1-2 (0-0)

/Oluwaseyi 49 - Gloukh 61, Edvardsen 90/

Wednesday

Galatasaray - Atletico Madrid 1-1 (1-1)

/Llorente 20 og - Simeone 4/

Qarabag - Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 (1-1)

/Duran 4, 80, Mustafazade 90+4 - Uzun 11, Chaibi 78 pen/

Atalanta - Ath.Bilbao 2-3 (1-0)

/Scamacca 16, Krstovic 88 - Guruzeta 58, Serrano 70, Navarro 74/

Bayern - St.Gilloise 2-0 (0-0)

/Kane 52 (p) 55 (p)/

Chelsea - Paphos 1-0 (0-0)

/Caicedo 78/

Juventus - Benfica 2-0 (0-0)

/Thuram 55, McKennie 64/

Newcastle - PSV 3-0 (2-0)

/Wissa 8, Gordon 30, Barnes 65/

Olympique Marseille - Liverpool 0-3 (0-1)

/Szoboszlai 45+1, Rulli 72(og), Gakpo 90+2/

Slavia Praha - Barcelona 2-4 (2-2)

/Fermin 34, 42, Olmo 63, Lewandowski 70 - Kušej 10, Lewandowski (og) 44/