Spanish side bag 3-0 win in Turin to go through 4-1 on aggregate in Champions League
\n TURIN
\nVillarreal reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday after inflicting a humiliating 3-0 defeat on Juventus in Turin to go through 4-1 on aggregate.
\nPenalties from Gerard Moreno and Arnaut Danjuma and Pau Torres\u2019s tap-in in the final quarter of an hour were enough for Unai Emery\u2019s well-organised side to see off the Italians at the Allianz Stadium and make Friday\u2019s last-eight draw.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a magical night,\u201d said Moreno to Movistar+.
\n\u201cWe thought we could do it, we\u2019ve always shown that in the big games we compete, the team gives its best… we all want to be in there with the best in Europe, we\u2019re going to keep dreaming and we\u2019re going to do it together.\u201d
\nEuropa League holders Villarreal stunned Juve with three sucker punches after spending most of the match on the back foot, content to hold off the hosts\u2019 attacks which got less potent as the match wore on.
\nAn embarrassing loss was just Juve\u2019s second since the end of November and punctures a dogged run of form which has put them back into the league title race at home.
\nMassimiliano Allegri\u2019s side were loudly booed off by the home crowd who watched their team shrink from a promising start and bounce off a yellow wall before being bundled out of the competition.
\nItaly are now without a single representative in this season\u2019s Champions League as it moves into its latter stages, as a cynical, clinical Villarreal beat a Serie A team at their own game.
\n\u201cFor the first 75 minutes we played well, we had chances in the first half. They put themselves behind the ball and only an episode like the one that happened could have changed the course of the match,\u201d Allegri said to Amazon Prime.
\n\u201cThey had nine men behind the ball and they didn\u2019t come out to counter-attack… Their intention was to take advantage of a piece of good fortune.\u201d
\nMissing a host of starters and with Paulo Dybala, Giorgio Chiellini and Federico Bernardeschi only on the bench, Juve started well and had the first opportunity in the 11th minute of a breathless first half when Alvaro Morata had his powerful header well saved by Geronimo Rulli.
\nTwo minutes later Morata was involved again when he and Juan Cuadrado, who had supplied the cross for the Spaniard\u2019s header moments before, stepped on each other\u2019s toes and allowed a huge chance to shoot go begging.
\nThen Dusan Vlahovic had a long-range drive pushed aside before he was denied by the crossbar, his first-time strike from Mattia De Sciglio\u2019s cross beating Rulli but thwacking out off the woodwork in the 21st minute.
\nJuve were almost punished for their inability to put away their chances seconds later when Giovani Lo Celso charged forward with teammates swarming into the home team\u2019s box and with options to either side curled a shot just wide.
\nVillarreal clearly decided to shut up shop in the early minutes of the second half in the hope of stemming the flow of Juve chances and the game slowed down to almost a crawl until Adrien Rabiot thumped an effort from distance at Rulli and Cuadrado fired wide on the hour.
\nThe away side easily held Juve at bay for the rest of the match and when Francis Coquelin was clumsily brought down by Daniele Rugani, substitute Moreno was fresh enough to send his spot-kick past Wojciech Szczesny with 12 minutes remaining.
\nMoreno\u2019s goal, which came after referee Szymon Marciniak\u2019s pitchside video check, deflated the crowd and when Torres pushed home the second from Serge Aurier\u2019s cross in the 85th minute the game was well and truly up.
\nThe boos began to ring around the stadium, and they only got louder when Matthijs de Ligt charged down Danjuma\u2019s shot with his arm in the closing moments and the Netherlands international made it a perfect evening for Villarreal, and a nightmare for Juve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Spanish side bag 3-0 win in Turin to go through 4-1 on aggregate in Champions League TURIN Villarreal reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday after inflicting a humiliating 3-0 defeat on Juventus in Turin to go through 4-1 on aggregate. Penalties from Gerard Moreno and Arnaut Danjuma and Pau Torres\u2019s tap-in in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250008,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5066,5067,5065],"class_list":{"0":"post-249985","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-juve","9":"tag-quarter-finals","10":"tag-villarreal"},"yoast_head":"\n