Juventus Champions League knockout preview | OneFootball

Juventus is not having its best season. However, things took a positive turn once Luciano Spalletti took the place of Igor Tudor as manager. In the Italian Serie A, the gap between Juve and Inter may be too big to close and the race for the Scudetto seems already decided, especially after the game that saw Inter defeat Juventus 3-2. The bianconeri, though, are still inside the Champions League, even if they need an exceptional performance to eliminate Galatasaray in the return leg of the European playoffs.

Juventus’ path in the Champions League so far

 Juventus wasn’t always brilliant in the continental tournament this year, but managed to get to the knockout stage after winning some key games in the group stage, before Christmas. Once in the playoffs they met the Turkish side Galatasaray and played horribly in Istanbul. In the first leg they lost 5-2 because of a long list of errors, ugly performances and a worrying injury to their best defender, Gleison Bremer. Now, they are waiting to play the Turkish side once again, in leg 2, in Turin, to try to go forward in the competition.

 The heavy defeat in the first leg against Galatasaray has greatly complicated Juventus’ European campaign, of course, as they now need to win at home by four goals to progress to the next round. This is no easy task, as evidenced by Oddschecker Champions League odds, which see the Turkish team progressing as the most likely outcome in the playoff. Spalletti and his players, though, won’t back down from the challenge and will give their all in Allianz Stadium, in front of their faithfuls.

What to expect in the second leg

 The first leg was a tale of two matches. In the first half Juventus played well and Koopmeiners’ brace brought them to halftime up 2-1. In the second half, though, disaster struck. A wild comeback by the home team pushed Juve to the brink of elimination. The Italian side played poorly and the Turkish side gained confidence. After the red card to Juan Cabal, who received two yellow cards in 8 minutes between 59’ and 67’, the castle came crumbling down.

 There’s not a lot to think about, for the next leg: Juventus must be aggressive and punish their opponents each and every time they can. Winning by 4 goals is not impossible for a team as talented as the Bianconeri, but they can’t concede anything to their opponents or the task will become unmanageable. Without Bremer and Cabal, Spalletti will have to rethink his formation according to the only possible keyword he should use: attack.

What will happen in case Juventus reach the round of 8?

 While we write this, we don’t know much about the round of 8. The playoffs are not finished and the draw will be only on the 27th of February, after this round concludes. However, we already know the possible opponents in the round of 8, because of the new UCL format that creates the match-ups by rewarding the teams that finished higher in the group stage of the competition. The best teams meet the worst ones.

 Given this logic, we know that Juventus could meet only 2 teams, should it manage to eliminate Galatasaray in the second leg of the playoffs: Liverpool or Tottenham. The English sides are not in top condition and could be around the same level of the Bianconeri (Tottenham especially), but this reasoning is obviously premature since there is a big elephant in the room: Galatasaray.

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