LISBON: Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri says his side are “sorry and angry” following their 4-3 Champions League loss at Benfica on Tuesday as they miss out on the knockout rounds for the first time since 2013/14.

The defeat means struggling Juve can only finish third in Group ‘H’, which would earn them a place in the Europa League knockout stages, while Benfica joined Paris St Germain, Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund among the teams to make it to the last 16 with one group game to spare.

“More than the wrong approach, I think we were too soft in defence in the first half,” Allegri told reporters. “We are disappointed and angry because we are out of the Champions League.

“Now we have to focus on the [Italian] league and also remain focused against Paris [St Germain next Wednesday] because we have at least to book a place in the Europa League.

“We made too many mistakes tonight but it’s not useful to talk about that now. I don’t consider this a failure. In football there are also defeats.

“We are sorry and angry. The team finished well so it’s not a physical matter. We must continue working.”

It has been a poor season so far for Juve in Serie A as they languish in eighth place, 10 points off top spot, and the defeat in Portugal sealed the fate of a side who have been in decline in Europe for several seasons, having been knocked out in the last 16 in each of the last three seasons.

Their earliest Champions League exit in nearly a decade came a day after they learned that club president Andrea Agnelli, vice president Pavel Nedved and CEO Maurizio Arrivabene are among 15 people placed under investigation for alleged false accounting and irregularities in player transfers.

Having already won when the sides met in Italy, Benfica went ahead in Lisbon when Antonio Silva headed in an Enzo Fernandez’s cross.

Moise Kean quickly equalised for Juve with a goal that was confirmed following a VAR review, but Joao Mario restored Benfica’s lead from the penalty spot and then set up Rafa Silva to make it 3-1 before half-time with a superb backheel flick.

The same player then got Benfica’s fourth early in the second half, and a Juventus fightback that produced goals by Arkadiusz Milik and Weston McKennie came too late.

MESSI STARS

Benfica are joined in qualifying from Group H by PSG, with the 2020 Champions League runners-up through after crushing Israel’s Maccabi Haifa 7-2 in Paris.

Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe both turned on the style, each scoring twice, while Neymar netted once and forced an own goal from Sean Goldberg. Carlos Soler completed the scoring for PSG as they equalled their own record for goals scored in a single European game.

Abdoulaye Seck scored twice for Maccabi, and they could still finish third above Juventus.

Messi is certainly in his best form since joining Qatari-backed PSG and might not be too far from his Barcelona prime, a month before he attempts to win the World Cup for the first time with Argentina.

It’s 11 goals in his last nine games for club and country, and 129 career goals in the Champions League — 11 behind his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who isn’t playing in the competition this season at Manchester United.

Messi, who also set up two goals against Macc­abi, set PSG on its way with a casual finish with the outside of his left foot from a standing start. Mbappe curled home from a similar position for the second goal and made the decoy run that allowed Messi to play in Neymar for the third goal.

Messi added his second before halftime when he ran toward the area, checked back onto his left foot inside a would-be tackler, and found the bottom corner from 20 metres.

The crowd inside the Parc des Princes was lapping it up and there were further goals from Mbappe, and Soler, as well as an own-goal, after the break.

CHELSEA THROUGH

Earlier, two-time Champions League winners Chelsea clinched their place in the last 16 as Group ‘E’ winners, completing an impressive turnaround after they lost their first game to Dinamo Zagreb in September.

Graham Potter’s side won 2-1 away to Red Bull Salzburg, with a stunning Kai Havertz strike 26 minutes from time proving the difference between the teams after Junior Adamu cancelled out Mateo Kovacic’s opener for the Blues.

Victory extended Chelsea’s unbeaten run under Potter to nine games.

“That was a fantastic performance from the players,” said Potter. “I’m delighted to go through with a game to spare considering where we started the competition.”

AC Milan are best-placed to go through with Chelsea after the Serie A champions won 4-0 in Zagreb, with Matteo Gabbia heading in the opener and Rafael Leao doubling their lead before Olivier Giroud netted a penalty and a Robert Ljubicic own goal completed the scoring.

Milan are now a point clear of Salzburg with the teams meeting at San Siro next week to decide which one progresses.

HAALAND’S RETURN

Dortmund played out a 0-0 draw with Manchester City, with keeper Gregor Kobel saving a penalty from Riyad Mahrez, but that was enough to advance. City had already advanced to the knock-outs from Group ‘G’ and are now sure to finish in first place.

“It was very important for us to take a point. We’re very happy that we qualified,” Kobel told broadcasters Amazon Prime Video.

The keeper said he was looking forward to seeing former team-mate Erling Haaland taking the penalty “but unfortunately he was no longer on the pitch.”

Haaland was replaced by City manager Pep Guardiola at halftime, perhaps with an eye to future Premier League games and with the team already through to the last 16. Guardiola also said Haaland had been struggling with a fever.

Sevilla drop into the Europa League despite beating FC Copenhagen 3-0 earlier on Tuesday with second-half goals by Youssef En-Nesyri, Isco and Gonzalo Montiel. David Khocholava was sent off at the end for Copenhagen, who have still not scored a goal in the group.

RARE DEFEAT FOR REAL

RB Leipzig inflicted a first defeat of the season on reigning European champions Real Madrid as they took a big step towards joining the Spaniards in qualifying from Group ‘F’.

Leipzig did their homework with a 3-2 win but couldn’t celebrate just yet as Shakhtar Donetsk pulled out a 1-1 draw at Celtic and are also still in the fight.

Joško Gvardiol and Christopher Nkunku put Leipzig ahead before Vinicius Junior pulled one back for Real shortly before the break.

But a late effort from Timo Werner handed Real their first defeat of the season with Rodrygo converting a late penalty. Leipzig will advance if they avoid defeat at third-placed Shakhtar next week.

“That’s exactly what we wanted, to have it [the qualification] in our hands,” Werner told broadcasters DAZN.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2022