Europa League quarter-final first leg: Juve wins hard, Sevilla & Valencia fall

Juventus and Benfica both claimed important away wins. But La Liga giants Sevilla and Valencia both lost to home teams Porto and Basel.

Despite dominating the game, Juventus (right) only won 1-0.

Juventus started very well against the home team Lyon and created some dangerous situations. A typical situation was in the 6th minute when Tevez missed a sure chance when heading wide from very close range. However, Lyon quickly recovered and regained control of the game.

The first half was the most challenging period for Juve's defense. In the 26th minute, Malbranque broke into the penalty area and fired a powerful shot, but goalkeeper Buffon made a miraculous save for the Italian team. In the corner kick immediately after, Brand shot over the bar from very close range, Juve escaped defeat once again.

The game was very balanced with both teams exchanging blows, with many opportunities. But it was not until the 85th minute that the turning point came from a series of… silly defensive situations by the home team. First was a clumsy ball control situation that led to Juve being awarded a corner, then another confused defensive situation, allowing defender Bonucci to shoot into the roof of the net. Finally, goalkeeper Lopes gave in after many excellent saves for Lyon.

The joy of victory of Basel players

Similar to Juve, another strong candidate, Benfica, also won 1-0 at AZ Alkmaar. A goal early in the second half by striker Salvio helped the Portuguese team put one foot in the semi-finals.

However, the two La Liga representatives Sevilla and Valencia both suffered defeats away from home, and they failed to score a single goal. Sevilla lost 0-1 to Porto (see VIDEO) in a completely pressured match, with the Spanish team even receiving 2 shots that hit the post. The 1-0 victory also put Porto in a favorable position before the second leg.

The worst was Valencia, when the Bats suffered a 0-3 defeat on Basel's field. Midfielder Delgado's double in just 4 minutes of the first half, along with striker Stocker's "final" goal in the last minute, helped Basel to be considered to have won a ticket to the Europa League semi-finals for the second consecutive season.

Specific results:

AZ - Benfica: 0-1

Lyon - Juventus: 0-1

Basel - Valencia: 3-0

Porto - Sevilla: 1-0

According to Bongdaplus