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Juventus and Cristiano Ronaldo were on the wrong end of a shocking Serie A result as they lost to 16th-placed Benevento for the first time in their history. The side led by Andrea Pirlo's old teammate, Filippo Inzaghi, pulled off a shock win against his former club to inflict further damage to the reigning champions after their humiliating UEFA Champions League exit.
Cristiano Ronaldo's side were downed by a second-half winner from on-loan striker Adolfo Gaich, whose smashing effort prevented Juventus from gathering all three points to keep pace with Antonio Conte's Internazionale.
The first half was largely dominated by Juventus, who had a total of seven attempts on Benevento's goal while the visitors couldn't test Wojciech Szczesny even once. It was one-way traffic from the Bianconeri but Cristiano Ronaldo's men failed to capitalise on their dominance by breaking the deadlock.
Juventus thought they had found a way into the side just past the half-hour mark when referee Rosario Abisso pointed to the spot for a handball inside the box after Dejan Kulusevski's exquisite cross. The decision was reversed after VAR's intervention to keep Benevento in the game.
Although the second half was more of the same in terms of possession, the Stregoni defended much more resolutely to protect Lorenzo Montipo's goal.
Adolfo Gaich steals the show to down Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus
Juventus came close to breaking the deadlock with a couple of attempts, with Cristiano Ronaldo in particular finding himself at the end of a string of opportunities but the Portuguese couldn't replicate his heroics against Cagliari. However, one of the game's most decisive moments came in the 69th minute, when Benevento took advantage of Juventus' shoddy defending.
Arthur Melo's poor throw-in close to his goal ended up costing his side as the ball eventually found Adolfo Gaich, who was switched on and lurking around the area. Gaich picked up the ball and smashed it past Szczesny to to score his second league goal for Benevento.
The superb strike from the 22-year-old gave Pippo Inzaghi's men a lead at the home of the champions, whose lackluster performance on the afternoon was punished by Benevento.
Alvaro Morata spurned a massive opportunity from just a few yards out as his poor first touch allowed the ball to get away from him. Cristiano Ronaldo attempted to bring his side back into the side with a number of chances including an acrobatic bicycle kick.
The Portuguese was at the heart of the action once again as he pulled a Kulusevski cross out of the sky and set up Danilo for a close range finish but the Brazilian skied the ball. Cristiano Ronaldo was on his knees in frustration as Juventus continued to bombard Benevento's 18-yard box.
Montipo made a staggering eight saves during the game to keep Cristiano Ronaldo and co at bay on their own turf and ultimately took a massive step towards their survival in Serie A.
Juventus, on the other hand, are now a staggering ten points away from Inter with their hopes of retaining the title with every passing game.
Here are some of the best tweets from the game.
