Juve reels from another humiliation at home

With three different coaches in three seasons, the result remains the same for Juventus: three straight eliminations in Turin in the Champions League last 16.

Europa League champion Villarreal scored three second-half goals in a 3-0 win on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in 13 years.

Substitute Gerard Moreno converted a 78th-minute penalty to break the deadlock following a 1-1 draw in the first leg. Then Pau Torres stabbed home a redirected corner before Arnaut Danjuma added another spot-kick as Villarreal advanced 4-1 on aggregate.

"For 75 minutes the squad did well," Juventus coach Max Allegri said. "Then a single episode changed the match. These things happen in soccer and we have to accept this heavy loss."

Allegri returned to Juventus this season after Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo coached the Bianconeri during defeats to Lyon and Porto at this stage over the last two seasons, respectively.

Including a quarterfinal defeat to Ajax in 2019, it's the fourth straight time that Juventus has been knocked out after a home second-leg match.

"We have to improve in scoring goals when we are dominating games like tonight," Juventus defender Danilo said. "We made another mistake after their first goal. We still had time to equalize and bring the game to extra time but we all went forward and they punished us."

In Wednesday's other match, defending champion Chelsea advanced 4-1 on aggregate after a 2-1 win at Lille.

The draw for the quarterfinals will be held Friday. Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Benfica have also advanced to the last eight.

Juventus sorely missed captain Giorgio Chiellini, who never left the bench following an injury layoff, and fellow centerback Leonardo Bonucci, who was still out injured.

But after a strong first half, Juve was broken down midway through the second half.

The penalty was awarded after a VAR ruling determined that Juve defender Daniele Rugani fouled Francis Coquelin. Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has saved three straight penalties in Serie A and got his gloves on Moreno's kick but couldn't stop it.

"We're here at Juve's stadium, we were always going to suffer," Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli said. "We defended incredibly and we have to applaud that. We're happy to still be in the competition."

Torres netted from close range in the 85th after a corner was flicked on by Serge Aurier. Then a handball from Juve's Dutch central defender Matthijs de Ligt set up Danjuma's spot-kick in stoppage time.

"That's the script. We wanted to make it a long game for them," Torres said. "We had a number of important lads on the bench and Gerard changed the side completely when he came on because he's a top player."

With the away-goals rule no longer in use, both teams needed to win to advance.

Juventus had several chances early on, including when Dusan Vlahovic hit the crossbar with one touch following a cross from Mattia De Sciglio, and a header from Alvaro Morata.

Giovani Lo Celso, who is on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, curled wide in Villarreal's best chance of the first half.

At the start of the second period, it appeared that Villarreal was content to sit back and defend in a bid to take the game to extra time and a shootout. But when Moreno came on, the momentum shifted.

"That's soccer," Juventus midfielder Juan Cuadrado said. "We had a good first half with some chances. In the second half, we tried to move the ball around more to create spaces but they were positioned well."

Chelsea advances

Much remains uncertain about Chelsea's future, but for now the reigning champion is through to the Champions League quarterfinals.

US international Christian Pulisic converted one of Chelsea's rare chances and Cesar Azpilicueta added another goal to help the embattled English Premier League club progress with a 2-1 win at Lille, and 4-1 on aggregate.

Chelsea, whose future has been left in doubt after Britain and the European Union froze the assets of owner Roman Abramovich, did not create much but was clinical against the French league champion.

Pulisic canceled out a Burak Yilmaz penalty on the stroke of halftime and Azpilicueta scored the winner in the 71st minute.

"They gave us a lot of problems in the first half," Pulisic said. "It was a really important goal right before the half, and from there I think it gave us some confidence."

Chelsea had won the opening leg 2-0 at Stamford Bridge last month.

"It has not been a normal last few weeks but we have to do what is in our hands, which is train the best we can," Azpilicueta said. "Tonight it was a difficult game and of course we are happy to go through."

Meanwhile, the owners of Major League Baseball team the Chicago Cubs have teamed up with Citadel founder Ken Griffin to work on a bid to buy Chelsea, a spokesperson for Griffin said on Wednesday.

Agencies via Xinhua