Spalletti must change gear for the Bianconeri: the Champions League calendar is smiling, but there are some pitfalls
Reverse gear. After having found two consecutive successes in Serie A, Juve enters the match against Sporting Lisbon with the need to not be able to make any more mistakes in the Champions League: two points in 3 games, in fact, place the Bianconeri currently outside of even qualifying for the playoffs, with the need (given the precedents) to obtain at least 10 points in the next 5 games. But after an uphill start (Borussia Dortmund at home, Villarreal and Real Madrid away), the calendar can give Spalletti a hand.
juve, the champions calendar at home
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Meanwhile, Juve will have the opportunity to play the majority of their matches in front of the crowd at the Allianz Stadium: tomorrow against the Portuguese (who, incidentally, have won only one of the 24 Champions League matches away against teams from the top five European leagues), on 10 December against the Cypriots of Pafos (who so far have obtained the same points as the Bianconeri, 2, but in the away match at Bayern they lost 5-1) and on the 21st January against Mourinho’s Benfica (currently stuck at zero at the bottom of the big group standings). In short, there are all the conditions to make a full haul, reaching that 11 mark which a year ago (with a goal difference of -4) was enough to compete in the playoffs.
Juve’s two away matches in the Champions League
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But even the commitments away from Italy appear less complicated than those faced so far in the Tudor management. The feeling is that a lot has passed since the trip to Norway on 25 November: for Spalletti it would be essential not to lose the direct clash with Bodo/Glimt. Of course, it won’t be a walk in the park: it will be played on the synthetic pitch and in a freezing climate, with the temperature around zero. The only two Italian teams who, in the recent period, have played at the Aspmyra Stadion, have always returned home defeated: Roma twice (6-1 and 2-0) in the 2021-22 Conference League and Lazio once (2-0 in the last Europa League). On the other hand, Bodo’s score at home speaks for itself: in the last four European seasons it has 29 wins, 2 draws and 7 defeats in front of its fans. The other away match that awaits Juve is the one that will close the big round at Monaco. The red and whites have already stopped City and Tottenham at the “Louis II”, but on January 28th a lot will depend on how the two teams finish in the standings. This is why Juve must reverse course immediately.
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