Despite defeating Juventus, PSG were forced to settle for second place in Group H after Benfica’s smashing of Maccabi Haifa.
After being dumped out of the Champions League by Benfica, Juventus couldn’t afford yet another poor display. With 14 minutes on the clock, however, Kylian Mbappe added to their woes, driving past both Federico Gatti and Manuel Locatelli before curling a beautiful effort into the bottom right corner for his 18th goal in 18 games this season.
Much to their credit, Juventus responded well, stepping on the front foot, before seeing that dominance pay off, courtesy of Leonardo Bonucci’s equaliser. The central defender met Juan Cuadrado‘s knock-down to find the back of the net for his first Champions League goal since 2016, as the game approached the break.
In a game that could’ve gone either way, it was PSG manager Christophe Galtier who provided the moment of genius, introducing Mendes just a minute before the full-back drove past a tiring Cuardrado and found the bottom right for 2-1.
Locatelli’s celebration soon after was cut short after the midfielder tapped in on the rebound of Gianluigi Donnarumma‘s initial save only to be met with the linesman’s flag, handing Group H second place PSG victory and leaving Juventus to settle for Europa League football.
