Juventus kept their hopes of automatic qualification for the UEFA Champions League round of 16 alive with a convincing 2–0 victory over SL Benfica at the Allianz Stadium.

The contest began at a frenetic pace, and the home crowd was almost celebrating inside the opening minutes when Anatoliy Trubin produced a full-stretch save to deny Kenan Yıldız’s curling effort from the edge of the box. The Turkish forward went close again shortly after, creating space in a similar position before seeing his shot drift narrowly wide.

As the first half wore on, Benfica began to enjoy more possession and carved out their first meaningful chance midway through the opening period. Georgiy Sudakov’s powerful strike tested Michele Di Gregorio, who could only parry the ball into danger before Lloyd Kelly reacted sharply to clear the rebound and avert the threat.

Despite the scoreline remaining goalless, the match remained open and entertaining. Juventus nearly broke the deadlock after 36 minutes when Fabio Miretti rose unmarked inside the area, but his free header sailed just over the crossbar when he should have at least forced Trubin into a save.

Juventus emerged from the interval with renewed intensity, clearly buoyed by an inspiring half-time team talk. Weston McKennie was denied by another solid stop from Trubin early in the second half, but Benfica’s resistance finally cracked moments later. Khephren Thuram drilled a precise finish into the bottom corner to give the Bianconeri a deserved lead and ignite the Allianz Stadium.

The visitors were soon in deeper trouble as McKennie combined excellently with Jonathan David, before calmly finishing past Trubin to double Juventus’ advantage and register his third Champions League goal of the campaign.

Benfica refused to fold and went close to pulling one back when Fredrik Aursnes rattled the woodwork with a header from close range. Their best chance to spark a late comeback arrived 10 minutes from time, when VAR awarded a penalty. However, Vangelis Pavlidis slipped as he struck the ball, sending the spot-kick well wide to the delight of the home supporters.

The result marks Juventus’ third consecutive Champions League victory, an impressive turnaround after a shaky start to the competition. A win away to AS Monaco in their final league-phase fixture could still see the Bianconeri finish inside the top eight, depending on results elsewhere.

Benfica, meanwhile, remain in contention for the knockout play-off round but face a daunting task, needing a home win against Real Madrid and a favourable set of outcomes in other matches to keep their European campaign alive.