Current reigning champions of the Netherlands, PSV, are facing an uphill battle after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Juventus in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League knockout play-off last week. This is the second time this season that they have been defeated by the Italian team. However, history does not seem to be on PSV’s side, as they have only managed to progress from 3 out of their 11 previous European Cup/UCL knockout stage ties after losing the first leg. The last time they were able to do so was back in the 1989/90 season. Their recent form is also not in their favour, as they have only won one game since the beginning of February (with 3 draws and 1 loss). In fact, their last 3 league games have all ended in draws, with PSV losing the lead in each of them, causing them to lose their top spot in the Eredivisie. However, there is a glimmer of hope for PSV as they have won their last 3 European matches at Philips Stadion, including a victory against Liverpool, and have scored a total of 10 goals in those games.
On the other hand, Juventus is currently on a winning streak of their own, having won their last 4 games, which is the first time they have achieved this feat this season. Their confidence is further boosted by their impressive record of progressing from 20 out of their last 20 European Cup/UCL ties after winning the first leg. Their last failure to do so was back in the 1978/79 season. With their win in the first leg, Juventus has the chance to win both legs of a UCL knockout tie for the first time since the 2016/17 season. They could also join the list of only 6 teams to win 3 UCL matches against the same opponent in a single campaign in the history of the competition. However, their recent away form is not very convincing, with only 2 wins in their last 10 competitive away games (with 7 draws and 1 loss). In addition, their last 2 UCL away matches have both ended in goalless draws, so this could potentially be a dull match.
Two players to keep an eye on in this match are PSV’s Ivan Perišić, who has scored 5 goals against Juventus in his career, all of which were scored in the second half. For Juventus, Francisco Conceição, who scored the winning goal against Inter Milan in their last game, has scored all 5 of his goals for the team after the 70th minute, and all of them have resulted in victories. An interesting fact to note is that Juventus has scored 7 goals after the 60th minute in their last 4 competitive matches.
