Juventus suffered their first loss of the season in Serie A, despite Randal Kolo Muani scoring a goal on his club debut. Napoli defeated them 2-1 in a title-chasing showdown. With a 16-point gap behind the league leaders, the Bianconeri may now shift their focus to the UEFA Champions League (UCL). In the UCL, they secured their progression to the next round by keeping three consecutive clean sheets.
Having drawn more than half of their 31 games this season in all competitions (W12, D16, L3), it’s not surprising that their last UCL match ended in a goalless draw against Cercle Brugge. However, after a 2-0 victory over Manchester City in their last UCL home game, Juventus has the opportunity to secure back-to-back home wins “to nil” in this competition for the first time since the 2018/19 season.
Despite holding a two-goal advantage, Benfica found themselves on the losing side of an exhilarating nine-goal encounter with Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League last week (lost 5-4). As a result, they now sit just two points ahead of Manchester City in 25th place, having only managed to win one of their last five UEFA Champions League matches (drawn 1, lost 3). Their defensive struggles continued over the weekend when they suffered a 3-1 defeat to Casa Pia, widening the gap between them and league leaders Sporting to six points.
However, Benfica can take solace in their recent achievements, having won their eighth Portuguese League Cup and reached the quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup. In addition, they have been successful in three out of their last four away matches in the UEFA Champions League, despite conceding in each game. This includes a 3-2 victory against Monaco in their most recent away fixture. With a strong record of six wins out of eight European head-to-heads against Juventus, the Portuguese side will undoubtedly feel confident about securing their qualification without relying on other results.
Players to keep an eye on: Due to Kolo Muani’s unavailability until the knockout phase, Juventus will have to rely on Dušan Vlahović. He scored the opening goal in their previous home match in the UEFA Champions League, with three of his last four goals coming in the second half. Following his impressive hat-trick against Barcelona, Vangelis Pavlidis has scored all four of his recent goals within the first 30 minutes of the game.
Interesting statistic: In six out of Benfica’s last seven competitive matches, there were at least two goals scored before halftime.
