Juventus vs Benfica facts

Two European heavyweights meet in Turin in the final round of league phase games as Juventus take on Benfica on UEFA Champions League Matchday 8.

Both sides are former European Cup winners although Benfica have had the better of direct contests between the clubs, recording six wins to Juve's one.

Juventus have 12 points in this season's competition, two more than their Portuguese visitors, but after winning their first two games have a single victory from the subsequent five, drawing 0-0 at Club Brugge on Matchday 7.

Benfica were also victorious in their opening two fixtures but have a single success from the last five and lost 4-5 at home to Barcelona having led 3-1 and 4-2 in the most recent.

Previous meetings

Matches 8
Juventus wins 1
Benfica wins 6
Draws 1
Juventus goals 9
Benfica goals 13

1967/68 European Cup semi-finals
Benfica 2-0 Juventus
Juventus 0-1 Benfica
Eusébio was on target in both legs as Benfica went on to reach their fifth final, losing to Manchester United.

1992/93 UEFA Cup quarter-finals
Benfica 2-1 Juventus
Juventus 3-0 Benfica
Juve claimed their only triumph against Benfica in the last eight of their victorious UEFA Cup campaign despite Vítor Paneira's first-leg double in Lisbon. Gianluca Vialli's penalty kept the Italian side in touch and goals in Turin from Jürgen Kohler, Dino Baggio and Fabrizio Ravanelli sealed their progress.

2013/14 UEFA Europa League semi-finals
Benfica 2-1 Juventus
Juventus 0-0 Benfica
Benfica denied the Serie A side the chance to appear in the final at their own Juventus Stadium with all the goals in the first leg in Lisbon, Ezequiel Garay giving the home side a second-minute lead. Although Carlos Tévez levelled 17 minutes from time, Lima's 84th-minute effort proved decisive both on the night and in the tie.

2022/23 Champions League group stage
Juventus 1-2 Benfica
Benfica 4-3 Juventus
The Eagles secured a comeback triumph in Turin on Matchday 2 despite falling behind to Arkadiusz Milik's fourth-minute opener. João Mário levelled from the penalty spot with David Neres getting a second-half winner.

Benfica booked their last-16 place with a thrilling Matchday 5 win in Lisbon thanks to goals from António Silva (17), João Mário (28pen) and Rafa Silva (35, 50) although replies from Moise Kean (21), Milik (77) and Weston McKennie (79) ensured a tense finale.

Form guide

Juventus

Record vs Portuguese clubs: W10 D4 L7 F29 A23
Home record vs Portuguese clubs: W7 D1 L2

After their 2022 defeats by Benfica, Juventus went on to beat Sporting CP in the Europa League quarter-finals (1-0 h, 1-1 a) – their last games against a team from Portugal.

The first-leg win against Sporting is Juve's only victory in their last four games against Portuguese clubs and one of two in the last seven (D2 L3).

The 2022 loss against Benfica ended a seven-match unbeaten home run against Portuguese visitors for Juventus (W6 D1) and is the only one of the last five they have not won.

Juventus are making their 24th appearance in the Champions League proper – an Italian record, three more than AC Milan.

The Italian side have returned to the competition after missing out in 2023/24. The previous season was their 11th consecutive Champions League campaign, and the first time they missed out on the round of 16 since 2013/14 as Juve finished behind Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain in their section.

The Turin team went on to win three Europa League ties in 2022/23 before losing 3-2 on aggregate to eventual champions Sevilla in the semi-finals.

Juventus did not feature in UEFA competition in 2023/24 for the first time since 2011/12.

Juve have lost four of their last seven home Champions League matches – including 0-1 at home to Stuttgart on Matchday 3 – having won ten of the previous 11, losing once. They have, however, beaten PSV Eindhoven (3-1) and Manchester City (2-0) in Turin this season.

Champions of Europe in 1985 and 1996, Juve have also lost seven European Cup finals including five in the Champions League era – more than any other club.

Having won a record nine successive Serie A titles between 2012 and 2020, Juve finished third in 2023/24 – their highest final placing since being crowned champions in 2019/20.

Massimilano Allegri left Juventus in May – he had also coached the club between 2014 and 2019, leading them to the Champions League finals in 2015 and 2017 – to be replaced by Thiago Motta.

Benfica

Record vs Italian clubs: W11 D8 L19 F41 A53
Away record vs Italian clubs: W4 D2 L12

Benfica have already faced Italian opposition this season, drawing 0-0 at home to Bologna on Matchday 6.

That made it five games without a win against Serie A sides, since their 2022 victories against Juve.

Benfica's last away game to an Italian club was a 1-0 loss at Inter in last season's group stage, making it six defeats in their last nine away matches against Serie A sides (W1 D2); they also drew 3-3 at home.

This is Benfica's 19th appearance in the Champions League proper, and a 14th in the last 15 seasons.

The Eagles reached successive quarter-finals in 2021/22 and 2022/23 but were unable to progress to the knockout rounds last season, finishing third in Group D behind Real Sociedad and Inter Milan.

A side coached by Roger Schmidt side beat Toulouse (2-1 aggregate) and Rangers (3-2 agg) to reach the Europa League quarter-finals, where Marseille ended their run.

Benfica have suffered only six losses in their last 27 European games outside Lisbon (W12 D9) although four of those defeats have come in the last nine. They have won at Crvena Zvezda (2-1) and Monaco (3-2) in this season's league phase either side of a 1-0 loss at Bayern München.

European champions in 1961 and 1962, Benfica have lost in five other European Cup finals, most recently in 1990.

The Lisbon club were second to local rivals Sporting CP in the 2023/24 Portuguese Liga.

Benfica parted company with Schmidt on 31 August, reappointing Bruno Lage, who was previously in charge between January 2019 and July 2020, as his replacement.

Links and trivia

Ángel Di María played for Juventus in 2022/23, scoring eight goals in 40 appearances in all competitions.

Juventus coach Motta played with Di María at Paris Saint-Germain between 2015 and 2018.

Have played in Portugal:
Danilo (Porto 2012–15)
Francisco Conceição (Porto 2018–22, 2023/24 loan)
Arthur Cabral (Fiorentina 2022/23)
Renato Sanches (Roma 2023/24)

Have played together:
Timothy Weah & Ángel Di María (Paris Saint Germain 2017–19)
Timothy Weah & Renato Sanches (LOSC Lille 2019–22)
Teun Koopmeiners & Vangelis Pavlidis (AZ Alkmaar 2021)
Danilo & Nicolás Otamendi (Porto 2012–14, Manchester City 2017–19)
Nicolás González & Arthur Cabral (Fiorentina 2022/23)

International team-mates:
Francisco Conceição, Samuel Soares, Tomás Araújo & António Silva (Portugal)
Kerem Aktürkoğlu, Orkun Kökçü & Kenan Yıldız (Türkiye)
Ángel Di María, Nicolás Otamendi & Nicolás González (Argentina)

Latest news

Juventus

Juve suffered their first Serie A defeat of the season on Saturday, going down 2-1 at leaders Napoli despite a debut goal from January signing Randal Kolo Muani giving them the lead.

The Bianconeri have drawn 13 of their 22 league matches this season and have let slip 17 points from winning positions.

Four of Juventus' seven league matches since Matchday 6 have ended all square, the other exceptions a 2-1 win at Monza on 22 December that was their 1,700th Serie A victory and a 2-0 home victory against AC Milan on 18 January.

Khéphren Thuram scored his first Juventus goals in a 2-2 draw at home to Fiorentina on 29 December, getting both 22 years after his father Lilian registered his only goal for the club.

That made it 21 league draws in the calendar year, fewer only than Perugia's Italian record of 22 in 1979.

The Bianconeri started 2025 with a 2-1 defeat against Milan in the Italian Super Cup semi-finals despite taking the lead through Kenan Yıldız.

Francisco Conceição had missed three games with a thigh injury before coming on as a late substitute on Matchday 7 and at Napoli on Saturday; Dušan Vlahović had sat out two with a similar problem but has come on in the last three matches.

Arkadiusz Milik is yet to play this season after suffering a knee injury with Poland in June.

Juan Cabal and Bremer are not expected to play again this season due to knee ligament injuries.

Benfica

The Eagles have won five of their last 11 games in all competitions (D2 L4), going down 3-1 at Casa Pia on Saturday to make it successive defeats.

Ángel Di Maria's early penalty had opened the scoring; the Argentinian is Benfica's top scorer this season with 14 goals in 29 games, including 11 in his last 16.

On 17 January Leandro Barreiro scored his first Benfica goals, hitting three in a 4-0 home win against Famalicão. It was the first hat-trick of the 25-year-old's career.

Orkun Kökçü got the other, his first goal since 2 October.

Leaders of the Portuguese Liga at Christmas, defeats at Sporting CP on 29 December (0-1) and at home to Braga on 4 January (1-2) meant Benfica dropped down the table.

That was the first time the Lisbon side had lost successive league games since April 2023.

Vangelis Pavlidis' Matchday 7 hat-trick took his Benfica total to ten goals – only four of them in the league.

Benfica won the Portuguese League Cup for the eighth time on 11 January, defeating Sporting 7-6 on penalties after a 1-1 draw; they had beaten Braga 3-0 in the semi-finals three days earlier.

Benfica were 3-1 winners at Farense in the Portuguese Cup last 16 on 14 January and will take on Braga in the quarter-finals.

Out since 24 August with a dislocated shoulder, striker Tiago Gouveia has now undergone knee surgery and is expected to be sidelined for another eight weeks.

Having been absent between 10 November and 4 January with a thigh muscle injury, Renato Sanches has since suffered another thigh problem.

In December, Benfica announced Fredrik Aursnes, Tomás Araújo and Alexander Bah had all agreed new contracts until 2029.