The Bianconeri must score at least nine points in the last 4 matches. The risk of goal difference is tied
A victory in Bodo would straighten out Juventus’s bid for the Champions League play-offs, a draw or defeat would put Luciano Spalletti’s team against the wall, without being able to do anything wrong between Pafos, Benfica and Monaco. Translated: tomorrow’s match in the Norwegian cold is not a direct elimination round, but for the Lady it is something similar. The Bianconeri have 3 points in the standings after 4 days: amidst the draws with Borussia Dortmund (4-4), Villarreal (2-2) and Sporting (1-1), the defeat at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid (1-0). Halfway through – and with still 4 games to go – Locatelli and his teammates need a success in Bodø to avoid going to risk for access to the playoffs in the last three stages: Pafos and Benfica at home, Monaco in Monte Carlo. A year ago, in the debut of the Champions League with the table and the new format, 12 points guaranteed access to the play-offs for all clubs, including Juventus. While at 11 there were also bad surprises, such as that of Dinamo Zagreb, eliminated on goal difference despite having the same points (11) as Bruges, Sporting and Manchester City. To be on the safe side, Juventus must win at least 9 points in the remaining 360 minutes.
combinations
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Spalletti inherited the misery of two points in three days from his predecessor Igor Tudor and on his debut with Sporting he did not go beyond a 1-1 draw. For all these reasons, the Lady now has a very low and almost zero margin of error if she were to lose in the Bodo/Glimt synthetic match tomorrow evening. On the contrary, a success in Norway would relaunch their path and ambitions, provided they take advantage of the home match on 10 December against Pafos. Yes, with six points between the Norwegians and the Cypriots, Juventus would reach 9 and at that point three points between Mourinho’s Benfica or former Pogba’s Monaco would be enough to enter the play-off. And what if yet another “X” came out in Bodo, i.e. the 29th in the Thiago Motta-Tudor-Spalletti period? The Bianconeri should make a clear or almost clear path between Pafos, Benfica and Monaco: two wins and a draw in the last three to reach 11 and hope. Or 3 successes out of 3 to cut 13 and avoid any type of calculation, combination and worry.