Category Archives: UEFA Champions League

Result Juventus 0 – 2 Benfica, Wednesday 29 January 2025, UEFA Champions League, Matchday 8

Result Juventus 0 – 2 Benfica, Wednesday 29 January 2025, UEFA Champions League, Matchday 8

By Anna ItaliaAnna Italia
Follow me on Twitter ,
Facebook: Anna Italia Page

    Juventus 0 – 2 Benfica
.                                                  17′ Vangelis Pavlidis
.                                                  80′ Orkun Kökçü
Buy UEFA Champions League Tickets
Buy tickets to Champions League matches, home and away

Juventus failed to win their UEFA Champions League Matchday 8 clash against Benfica on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, at the Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy.  Juventus faced another defeat, wrapping up the championship phase in the least favorable manner, even though they secured a spot in the playoffs a round early. After a tough home loss, Juventus must put this setback behind them and focus on the upcoming UEFA Champions League Playoffs, with the draw scheduled for January 31. Next up is the Serie A Week 23 match against Empoli, where they’ll aim to bounce back.

Benfica pulled off a stunning upset against Juventus! In the 17th minute, they took the lead when Vangelis Pavlidis found the back of the net with a precise right-footed shot into the bottom left corner, thanks to an assist from Alexander Bah.

Incredible! In the 80th minute, Benfica increased their advantage as Orkun Kökçü scored with a precise right-footed shot to the bottom left corner, assisted by Vangelis Pavlidis.

Stats before the game

Juventus has faced Benfica eight times in European competitions, suffering six losses (with just one win and one draw). The only team they’ve lost to more in these tournaments is Real Madrid, with ten defeats. Benfica has a perfect record against Juventus in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, winning all four encounters. They are one of only three teams, alongside PSG and Stuttgart, to have a 100% success rate against the Old Lady in this competition.

Buy UEFA Champions League Tickets

Juventus did secure a victory in their last home match in the UEFA Champions League, defeating Manchester City 2-0 in December. However, the last time they managed to win and keep a clean sheet in two consecutive home games was back in the 2018-19 season, when they triumphed over Valencia (1-0) and Atlético Madrid (3-0).

Benfica claimed victory in three of their last four away matches in the UEFA Champions League.  However, they conceded goals in each of those games (3-1 against Salzburg, 2-1 against Crvena zvezda, and 3-2 against Monaco). This mirrors their previous 21 away games in the competition, where they also failed to keep a clean sheet, achieving three wins.

Player Stats

Dusan Vlahovic has scored four goals in six games for Juventus in the UEFA Champions League this season, already double his tally in his first two seasons in the competition combined (one goal each in 2021/22 and 2022/23) – the Serbian opened the scoring in the most recent home game of the competition, a 2-0 win over Manchester City.

Benfica striker Vangelis Pavlidis scored a hat-trick against Barcelona in his final UEFA Champions League game, his first in a major European competition. However, with Benfica’s final defeat, he became only the fifth player in Champions League history to score a hat-trick in a game his team lost.

Manuel Locatelli attempted 27 line-breaking passes in Juventus’ last game against Brugge: a record for a midfielder in a UEFA Champions League game this season.

==========================================
Buy Juventus FC Tickets
==========================================

📺 Click the video to watch Juventus 0 – 2 Benfica highlights on Wednesday 29 January 2025

The Juventus Stadium is ready for Juventus vs Benfica

 

Juventus official starting lineup against Benfica

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Credit via x.com/juventusfcen

UEFA Champions League tickets2024 – 2025 UEFA Champions League
League Phase
Matchday 8

Result Juventus 0 – 2 Benfica
Wednesday 29 January 2025
Juventus Stadium
Turin, Italy

21:00

Referee: Istvan Kovacs ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Mihai Marica ROU
Assistant Referee 2: Ferencz Tunyogi ROU
Fourth Official: Horațiu Feșnic ROU
VAR: Pol van Boekel NED
AVAR: Angelos Evangelou GRE
Referee Observer: Michael Riley ENG

⚽️ Goals: 17′ Vangelis Pavlidis (B), 80′ Orkun Kökçü (B)

🟨 Booked: 55’ Vlahovic (J), 63’ Otamendi (B), 78’ Bah (B)

✅ Official lineups – formations – tabellino:

⚪️⚫️   Lineup Juventus: Perin, Weah, Kalulu (16’ Locatelli), Gatti, McKennie, Thuram (61’ Koopmeiners), Douglas Luiz, Conceicao, Yildiz, Mbangula (61’ Nico Gonzalez), Vlahovic

Substitutes: Pinsoglio, Di Gregorio, Adzic, Fagioli, Savona, Rouhi.

Coach: Thiago Motta.

Lineup Benfica: Trubin, Araujo (90+2’ Rego), Silva, Otamendi, Bah, Florentino Luis, Aursnes, Kokcu (90+2’ Rollheiser), Di Maria (72’ Akturkoglu), Pavlidis (84’ Amdouni), Schjelderup (72’ Barreiro).

Substitutes: Soares, Prestianni, Beste, Fonseca, Felix, Santos, Bajrami.

Coach: Bruno Lage.

==================================

Result Sporting 1 – 1 Bologna, UEFA Champions League, Wednesday 29January 2025, Matchday 8

Result Sporting 1 – 1 Bologna, UEFA Champions League, Wednesday 29January 2025, Matchday 8

By Anna ItaliaAnna Italia
Follow me on Twitter ,
Facebook: Anna Italia Page

57% Ball Possession SPORTING and 43% Ball Possession BOLOGNA
  Sporting 1 – 1 Bologna
77′ Conrad Harder                21′ Tommaso Pobega
Buy UEFA Champions League Tickets
Buy tickets to Champions League matches, home and away

🔴🔵 Bologna, having already been eliminated, salute the UEFA Champions League Matchday 8 against Sporting Lisbon with a draw on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal. Following their 2-1 triumph over Borussia Dortmund on the last day of the group stage, Bologna has the chance to achieve back-to-back wins in UEFA competitions for the first time since the 1998-99 UEFA Cup, where they had a five-match winning streak. However, Bologna has yet to claim an away victory in the UEFA Champions League, with one draw and two losses. Will they manage to turn the tide in this match?

Bologna opened the scoring in the 21st minute when Tommaso Pobega found the net with a close-range header, directing the ball into the bottom left corner. The assist came from Sam Beukema after a corner was given away by Maximiliano Araújo.

Stats before the game

Sporting Lisbon and Bologna are set to clash in European competition for the first time since the 1998-99 UEFA Cup’s opening round, where Bologna triumphed over Sporting with a 4-1 aggregate score, winning both matches (0-2 away and 2-1 at home). Bologna has not lost in their last three encounters with Portuguese teams in European tournaments, boasting two wins and one draw, the latest being a 0-0 stalemate against Benfica during this season’s UEFA Champions League matchday six. In their last 24 home games in the UEFA Champions League, Sporting Lisbon has only drawn once (1-1 against Juventus in October 2017), achieving 12 victories and 11 defeats in that span.

Sporting Lisbon has faced a tough streak, losing their last game in each of their previous five UEFA Champions League campaigns, with four of those matches seeing them concede at least two goals. Their last victory in this competition dates back to the 2008-09 season, when they managed a 1-0 win against Basel.

On the other hand, Bologna has been quite active in the card department, racking up the highest number of yellow cards (23) in this UEFA Champions League, with 14 different players receiving bookings. In terms of goals, only Inter has had fewer total goals in their matches (nine) compared to Bologna’s 11, which includes three goals scored and eight conceded. Additionally, Bologna holds the record for the lowest conversion rate in the tournament at just 3.6%.

Player Stats

Viktor Gyökeres has become the Sporting Lisbon player to have scored the most goals (six) considering a single season of the European Cup/Champions League. On the other hand, no player from the Portuguese club has scored more goals in the current competition (six also Liedson).

Stefan Posch is the player with the highest figure combining tackles made and balls intercepted (36 resulting from 28 tackles and eight interceptions respectively) in this UEFA Champions League. In general, only Barcelona’s Marc Casadó (30) has made more tackles than Bologna’s Austrian (28) in the current tournament.
=======================
Buy Bologna FC Tickets
=======================

📺 Click the video to watch Sporting – Bologna highlights on Wednesday 29 January 2025

To be added

The Estádio José Alvalade is ready for Sporting vs Bologna

Image

👉🏆 🔴🔵 Bologna official starting lineup against Sporting

Image

Credit via x.com/BolognaFC1909en

Image

Image


Image

Photo via x.com/BolognaFC1909en

UEFA Champions League tickets2024 – 2025 UEFA Champions League
League Phase
Matchday 8

Result Sporting 1 – 1 Bologna 🔴🔵
Wednesday 29 January 2025
Estádio José Alvalade
Lisbon, Portugal

21:00

Referee: Benoît Bastien FRA
Assistant Referee 1: Hicham Zakrani FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Aurélien Berthomieu FRA
Fourth Official: Thomas Leonard FRA
VAR: Benoît Millot FRA
AVAR: Andrew Dallas SCO
Referee Observer: Levan Paniashvili GEO

⚽️ Goals: 21′ Tommaso Pobega (B), 77′ Conrad Harder (S)

🟨 Booked: 22′ Emil Holm (B), 41′ Sam Beukema (B), 43′ Zeno Debast (S), 44′ Samuel Iling-Junior (B), 56′ Charalampos Lykogiannis (B), 66′ João Simões (S), 72′ Martin Erlic (B), 87′ Morten Hjulmand (S), 93′ Geovany Quenda (S)

✅ Official lineups – formations – tabellino:

Lineup Sporting Lisbona (4-4-2): Israel; Fresneda, Diomande, Harder, Araújo; Catamo, Debast (49′ Simoes), Hjulmand, Bragança (62′ Quenda); Trincão (87′ Reis), Goncalo Inacio.

Coach: Borges

👉🔴🔵 Lineup BOLOGNA (4-2-3-1): Ravaglia; Holm (46′ Lykogiannis), Casale, Beukema (46′ Erlic), Miranda; Pobega, Ferguson (10′ Moro); Iling-Junior (79′ Dallinga), Fabbian (75′ Odgaard), Ndoye; Castro.

Coach: Vincenzo Italiano

===========================================

Wednesday 29 January 2025: Front Page La Gazzetta dello Sport, Corriere dello Sport, and Tutto Sport

Wednesday 29 January 2025: Front Page La Gazzetta dello Sport, Corriere dello Sport, and Tutto Sport

https://www.italiansoccerseriea.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Anna_Italia_bigger.jpgBy Anna Italia
Follow me on Twitter ,
Facebook: Anna Italia Page
Instagram: annaitalia2
Italian Soccer Serie A

✅   Greetings, my friends!  I present to you the latest front pages from the Italian newspapers La Gazzetta dello Sport, Corriere dello Sport, and Tutto Sport, dated Wednesday 29 January 2025.

Serie A tickets

Front Page La Gazzetta dello Sport, Wednesday 29 January 2025

👉Champions League, a night never seen before
Below
Who will win the Cup

Round of 16 and Playoffs: 18 games together and many verdicts
Italians fighting for the first 8 places

👉Inter with Monaco
No calculations

👉Milan in Zagreb
Theo and Leão are needed

👉Juve with Benfica
Vlahovic is back

👉Atalanta is dreaming in Barcelona

👉Transfer market closes on Monday
Dorgu to United: 37 million to Lecce
Toro is negotiating Elmas

Image

Photo: twitter.com/ItalianSerieA

Front Page Corriere dello Sport, Wednesday 29 January 2025

👉A Champions League night like never seen before
Inter, Milan, and Atalanta for the Round of 16. Juve will try. Bologna pride

Ranking for one night
Objective: 5 clubs also in the ’25-26

Lautaro challenges Monaco
Leão in Zagreb against Cannavaro
Retegui, Barcelona test
Motta, assault on Benfica to avoid the playoffs: Tudor followed the Bianconeri to Naples.
Castro, there is Sporting
All matches at 21

👉Lecce winger to United: €40 million deal
Dorgu frees Garnacho

Napoli pressing for Argentine: There is still financial distance
The Adeyemi hypothesis cools down. Pongracic and Comuzzo are options for defense
Galatasaray offers €65 million for Osimhen: De Laurentis refuses

👉Lookman ko
Gasp targets Raspadori: Napoli protects him

👉Rome, hunt for deputy Dovbyk
Ghisolfi List: Embolo and Romero

👉 Double table with Chelsea
Lazio and Torino: duel for Casadei
Lotito awaits the yes from London.
The Granata Club enters again and attempts to overtake.

👉In Belgium
Nainggolan released: he is on probation

Image

Photo: twitter.com/ItalianSerieA

Front Page Tutto Sport, Wednesday 29 January 2025

👉Inter, Milan, and Atalanta: Round of 16 closer. And for Motta with Benfica the Champions League is worth even more

This is where Juve and Italy are made

At 21 everyone on the pitch. A point is enough for Inzaghi against Monaco. Conceição and Gasperini want to win in Zagreb and Barcelona to enter the G8. The Bianconeri dream of avoiding the playoffs but above all they must turn things around, in their game and mentality.
Thiago relaunches Vlahovic. Cambiaso out waiting for City.
Danilo attacks the management again.

👉Toro, finally…
Elmas, Casadei, what a story!
Here’s Beto again

Medical visits today for the midfielder arriving from Leipzig (loan).
For the Azzurri of Chelsea, bad luck with relaunches with Lazio, Ndour’s plan B. Offer raised to Everton for the bomber.

👉What a backtrack!
‘Need a rest’
Sinner, the no to Mattarella sparks discussion

Image

Photo: twitter.com/ItalianSerieA
===============
Italian Serie A Tickets for the next 10 games

===============
#AnnaItalia #ItalianSerieA #ItalianSoccerSerieA

Purchase tickets for the Italian Serie A.  Access information on Italian football tickets, Serie A soccer news, previews, and real-time results, as well as current standings in Serie A. Enjoy live updates on Serie A Stats and matches.

Match Officials UEFA Champions League Matchday 8, Wednesday 29 January 2025

Match Officials UEFA Champions League Matchday 8, Wednesday 29 January 2025


https://www.italiansoccerseriea.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Anna_Italia_bigger.jpgBy Anna Italia
Follow me on Twitter ,
Facebook: Anna Italia Page
Instagram: annaitalia2
Italian Soccer Serie A supports Serie A teams in the UEFA Champions League

The match officials for the UEFA Champions League Matchday 8 on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, have been announced. The five Serie A teams taking part are Inter, Atalanta, Juventus, AC Milan, and Bologna.

Buy UEFA Champions League Tickets
Buy tickets to Champions League matches, home and away

Inter Milano – AS Monaco
Referee: Irfan Peljto BIH
Assistant Referee 1: Senad Ibrišimbegović BIH
Assistant Referee 2: Davor Beljo BIH
Fourth Official: Miloš Gigovic BIH
VAR: Bastian Dankert GER
AVAR: Piotr Lasyk POL
Referee Observer: Thomas Einwaller AUT

Juventus FC – SL Benfica
Referee: Istvan Kovacs ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Mihai Marica ROU
Assistant Referee 2: Ferencz Tunyogi ROU
Fourth Official: Horațiu Feșnic ROU
VAR: Pol van Boekel NED
AVAR: Angelos Evangelou GRE
Referee Observer: Michael Riley ENG

FC Barcelona – Atalanta BC
Referee: Michael Oliver ENG
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt ENG
Assistant Referee 2: James Mainwaring ENG
Fourth Official: Andrew Madley ENG
VAR: Jarred Gillett ENG
AVAR: Darren England ENG
Referee Observer: Darko Čeferin SVN

GNK Dinamo – AC Milan
Referee: François Letexier FRA
Assistant Referee 1: Cyril Mugnier FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Mehdi Rahmouni FRA
Fourth Official: Jérémie Pignard FRA
VAR: Willy Delajod FRA
AVAR: Bastien Dechepy FRA
Referee Observer: Bernardino González Vázquez ESP

Sporting CP – Bologna FC
Referee: Benoît Bastien FRA
Assistant Referee 1: Hicham Zakrani FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Aurélien Berthomieu FRA
Fourth Official: Thomas Leonard FRA
VAR: Benoît Millot FRA
AVAR: Andrew Dallas SCO
Referee Observer: Levan Paniashvili GEO

PSV Eindhoven – Liverpool FC
Referee: Tobias Stieler GER (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Gittelmann GER
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Borsch GER
Fourth Official: Florian Badstübner GER
VAR: Sören Storks GER
AVAR: Sascha Stegemann GER
Referee Observer: Frank De Bleeckere BEL

BSC Young Boys – Crvena Zvezda
Referee: Halil Meler TUR
Assistant Referee 1: Kerem Ersoy TUR
Assistant Referee 2: Ibrahim Uyarcan TUR
Fourth Official: Arda Kardeşler TUR
VAR: Marco Di Bello ITA
AVAR: Paolo Mazzoleni ITA
Referee Observer: Marián Ružbarský SVK

VfB Stuttgart – Paris St. Germain
Referee: Davide Massa ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Ciro Carbone ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Stefano Alassio ITA
Fourth Official: Michael Fabbri ITA
VAR: Aleandro Di Paolo ITA
AVAR: Luca Pairetto ITA
Referee Observer: Haim Jakov ISR

Sturm Graz – RB Leipzig
Referee: Mykola Balakin UKR
Assistant Referee 1: Oleksandr Berkut UKR
Assistant Referee 2: Viktor Matyash UKR
Fourth Official: Vitaliy Romanov UKR
VAR: Fedayi San SUI
AVAR: Lukas Fähndrich SUI
Referee Observer: Jon Skjervold NOR

Manchester City – Club Brugge
Referee: José Sánchez Martinez ESP
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabañero Martinez ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Inigo Prieto Lopez ESP
Fourth Official: César Soto Grado ESP
VAR: Alejandro Hernández Hernández ESP
AVAR: Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP
Referee Observer: Stefan Johannesson SWE

Bayern Munchen – Slovan Bratislava
Referee: João Pinheiro POR
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Jesus POR
Assistant Referee 2: Luciano Maia POR
Fourth Official: João Gonçalves POR
VAR: Tiago Martins POR
AVAR: Stuart Attwell ENG
Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas SCO

Borussia Dortmund – Shakhtar Donetsk
Referee: Glenn Nyberg SWE
Assistant Referee 1: Mahbod Beigi SWE
Assistant Referee 2: Andreas Söderkvist SWE
Fourth Official: Adam Ladebäck SWE
VAR: Dennis Johan Higler NED
AVAR: Alan Kijas AUT
Referee Observer: Matteo Trefoloni ITA

Bayer Leverkusen – Sparta Praha
Referee: Georgi Kabakov BUL
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Margaritov BUL
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Venev BUL
Fourth Official: Radoslav Gidzhenov BUL
VAR: Dragomir Draganov BUL
AVAR: Juan Martínez Munuera ESP
Referee Observer: Stefano Podeschi SMR

FC Salzburg – Atletico de Madrid
Referee: Anthony Taylor ENG
Assistant Referee 1: Gary Beswick ENG
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Nunn ENG
Fourth Official: Samuel Barrott ENG
VAR: Michael Salisbury ENG
AVAR: Peter Bankes ENG
Referee Observer: Karen Nalbandyan ARM

LOSC Lille – Feyenoord
Referee: Slavko Vinčić SVN
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaž Klančnik SVN
Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovačič SVN
Fourth Official: Martin Matoša SVN
VAR: Alen Borošak SVN
AVAR: Dragoslav Perič SVN
Referee Observer: Itchko Lozev BUL

Aston Villa – Celtic FC
Referee: Clément Turpin FRA
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Benjamin Pages FRA
Fourth Official: Romain Lissorgue FRA
VAR: Jérôme Brisard FRA
AVAR: Rob Dieperink NED
Referee Observer: Alain Hamer LUX

Girona – Arsenal
Referee: Maurizio Mariani ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Daniele Bindoni ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Tegoni ITA
Fourth Official: Daniele Doveri ITA
VAR: Daniele Chiffi ITA
AVAR: Valerio Marini ITA
Referee Observer: Vladimir Petrov UKR

Stade Brestois – Real Madrid
Referee: Espen Eskas NOR
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Engan NOR
Assistant Referee 2: Isaak Bashevkin NOR
Fourth Official: Kristoffer Hagenes NOR
VAR: Christian Dingert GER
AVAR: Pascal Müller GER
Referee Observer: Emil Bozinovski MKD

“In a big club the only thing that counts is winning,” Juventus Coach Thiago Motta

“In a big club the only thing that counts is winning,” Juventus Coach Thiago Motta


https://www.italiansoccerseriea.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Anna_Italia_bigger.jpgBy Anna Italia
Follow me on Twitter ,
Facebook: Anna Italia Page
Instagram: annaitalia2
Italian Soccer Serie A supports Serie A teams in the UEFA Champions League

Juventus Coach Thiago Motta and Francisco Conceicao addressed the media before their upcoming clash with Benfica. The game is set to take place on Wednesday, January 29, at 21:00 CET, as part of matchday 8 in the Champions League League Phase, hosted at the Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy.

Thiago Motta

“Tomorrow, we must be ready to do whatever it takes on the pitch, do it well, overcome our opponent and bring home the win. Andrea Cambiaso will not be available because he is nursing an ankle issue. We don’t like negative results, and we want to forget them as soon as possible: tomorrow, we have a big game in which to do that. We have done better in Europe than in the league, but our goal is always to win, and we are working hard to achieve that. Dusan Vlahovic is well and is part of the squad; we’ll see if he’ll start or join the game later. Douglas Luiz could have a chance because he deserves it. With Cristiano Giuntoli and Maurizio Scanavino, the club is always close to the team, and we talk daily about how to improve: at Juve, the pressure is always high, because the goal is to win, and tomorrow is an opportunity to play a great game in front of our fans. Regarding the physical decline against Napoli, we had a great first half, but in the second half we went behind and had to regroup, but that chapter is now closed and we are focusing on Benfica. We will approach this match as if it were a knock-out game, because in a big club the only thing that counts is winning. Tomorrow, we have a great opportunity, and we are ready to give 100 per cent, or even more.”

Buy UEFA Champions League Tickets
Buy tickets to Champions League matches, home and away

“We know that Benfica are a quality team who like to keep the ball, but we want to focus on what we have to do and what we have been working on. We are working hard to raise our game, especially in front of our fans; the internal competition pushes us to give our all every day, because we want to prove our capabilities. When I heard that Renato Veiga could be coming to Juve, I called him to tell him that he would be joining a great club and I tried to convince him, because I believe he can help us. I have never scored against Benfica, I hope to do so tomorrow, although the important thing is the team result. Both Juve and Benfica aim to win and we are working every day to improve and win matches. The coach? He asks me to open up my qualities to the team: Italian football is very competitive, and I feel I can still grow. We learnt something from the defeat against Napoli: we put on a great performance in the first half, and there are always positive aspects to build on.”

Image