They lost their first two games to PSG and Benfica, but kept their hopes of qualification alive with a win against Maccabi Haifa last week. They’ve only lost twice, but one of those defeats was a first ever Serie A win for newly promoted Monza, and their Champions League form has been equally patchy. Last season, Juve could only manage fourth place in Serie A (16 points behind champions Milan), while their Champions League ambitions – a bugbear of Allegri during his previous spell with the club – went up in smoke at the Round of Sixteen stage against Villareal.īut this season has been no better for The Old Lady. When Allegri left Juventus in 2019, he did so off the back of five successive league titles, but things haven’t really worked out as successfully since his return. They’re already seven points off a Champions League place for next season and ten points off the top of the table, and this means trouble for head coach Massimiliano Allegri. Following their 2-0 defeat away to Milan on Saturday evening, Juventus are down in eighth place in Serie A with just three wins from their nine league games. Liverpool aren’t the only big beasts of European club football going through a difficult time. With Reece James excelling, they’re already starting to look quite a lot like what Todd Boehly would have intended when he hired Graham Potter in the first place and a win in the San Siro, one of European football’s truly iconic homes, would be a suitable cherry on the cake for what has been a successful first month for the new manager. The effects of Potterball are becoming evident, and they’re doing so quickly. They had a comfortable 2-0 win against Juventus at the weekend while Chelsea barely had to break into a jog to see off a managerless Wolves side in the Premier League. Chelsea romped to an extremely comfortable 3-0 win, which lifted them to second place in the group above their next opponents, all of which means that this is a critical evening for Milan too. One point from their first two matches had left them needing a win to have a realistic chance of finishing in the top two in their group.Ī week on, the picture couldn’t have changed much more. Less than a week before Chelsea take to the pitch at the San Siro for their return match against Milan, the task ahead of them just to stay in this year’s Champions League was looking somewhat daunting.
Their league form has been patchy, but they will arrive at Camp Nou knowing that a win will leave them needing just one point from their last two games to guarantee qualification for the next round. Two Edin Dzeko goals at the weekend gave them a narrow win at Sassuolo to leave them in 7th place in the table. The good news for them is that Inter have been blowing hot and cold in Serie A this season, having won five and lost four of their first nine matches of the season. Losing it and dropping into the Europa League may have financial ramifications for a club whose hunger for a European Super League heavily implies that even latter stages of the Champions League money isn’t enough to keep them on the financial straight and narrow.
This group had ‘Group of Death’ written all over it from the outset. Successive defeats against Bayern Munich and Inter have left them languishing in third place in the group, and defeat in their return match against Inter would leave them needing a win from their next game against Bayern Munich to have a realistic chance of progressing, and that is always a tall order. This solid defence has put them ahead of Real Madrid at the top of the table on goal difference.īut in the Champions League, it’s a different story. Big Midweek has a manager and striker in need of a change in fortunes, Barcelona in need of a big win and a wholly unpredictable EFL game.Īfter their summer of spending as though the end of the world was nigh – we’ll get back to you on that – Barcelona have started their season in La Liga looking very much like the Barcelona of old.įollowing a goalless draw against Rayo Vallecano on the opening day of the season they’ve won seven in a row and have only conceded one goal in the league all season.
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