Juventus defender Cecilia Salvai marked the 10th anniversary of her debut in the Women's Champions League with her first two goals in the competition as her team came from behind to beat Benfica 2-1 on Tuesday in the first match of the new-look tournament.
Salvai scored the winner four minutes from time to add to her first-half goal, which canceled out Lucia Alves’ early opener.
Defending champion Arsenal was playing record eight-time winner Lyon later, with runner-up Barcelona hosting Bayern Munich. Paris FC was playing OH Leuven.
After the men switched from a group phase to a league-based format last season, the women’s tournament made the move, too.
Alves scored the first goal of the revamped competition in the sixth minute, finishing off Nycole Raysla’s cross with an emphatic close-range strike.
However, Juventus took control of the match from that point, driven by a lively performance from Barbara Bonansea down the right.
And the veteran Italy international was key to Juve’s equalizer in the 22nd minute, beating two players in the area before lifting the ball across for Salvai to head past Lena Pauels.
It was Salvai's first goal in the competition — 10 years to the day after making her Women’s Champions League debut for Verona.
Juventus had numerous chances to take the lead and Bonansea also had a goal ruled out for offside shortly before halftime.
The Bianconere snatched the win in the 86th minute when a corner was flicked on and Salvai stuck out a leg to volley it into the back of the net.
The 18-team league phase ends in December. Teams that finish first to fourth in the standings advance directly to the quarterfinals. Those ranked Nos. 5 to 12 go to a knockout playoff round. The bottom six teams are eliminated.
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