Champions League: Champions Out to Further Dent ‘Old Lady’ Invincibility

Juventus vs Chelsea

There is something not quite right about the ‘old lady’ of Turin.

Yes, they miss Cristiano Ronaldo – who wouldn’t!

Yet it is more than that, and it seems that it is taking a while to restore harmony in the camp after a period of upheaval which has included three managers in two years, during which much of their domestic aura has been swept away.

So, as the Champions League returns to this part of town in midweek, the key question is: Where do Juventus sit in the current league of established heavyweights?

Talking Points

Champions League: Massimiliano Allegri is determined to lead his team to a win against Chelsea — Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri gives instruction to his team during a Serie A match against Sampdoria

Well, they certainly have made a good start to Group H, enjoying Champions League 2021 highlights aplenty in Sweden just under a fortnight ago.

They are also my favourites to retain the Serie A title this term, even if they have made a rough start and had not won a league match until last week.

Two points from their first four matches had actually left Juve in the bottom three before back-to-back wins moved Max Allegri’s side up to ninth in the early standings.

Something though doesn’t seem right.

Juventus beat Sampdoria on Saturday to earn a second successive league victory but the aura around them appears to have disappeared for the moment.

It is hard to see that returning against Chelsea either, given they will almost certainly be without their main two frontmen.

Paulo Dybala, who had fired them into an early lead at the weekend, left the pitch in tears after picking up an injury soon afterwards, while strike partner Álvaro Morata – a former Chelsea man of course – also went off injured.

According to Allegri, the duo are “certain” to miss this tie and Saturday’s Turin derby against Torino.

That surely opens the door for European champions Chelsea to make it two wins out of two and take firm control of Group H.

Compared to the Italians, the strength in depth at the west Londoners is luxury.

They may have suffered a first defeat of the new season at home to English champions Manchester City on Saturday – as Pep Guardiola finally broke his English duck against Thomas Tuchel – but you only needed to look at the quality of their substitutes bench to see the players Tuchel has at his disposal.

Thiago Silva, Kai Havertz, Saul Niguez and Haim Ziyech were among those on the bench, which tells its own story.

In that match, Chelsea surprisingly failed to muster a single effort on target, although Tuchel’s setup of three defensively-minded midfield players in N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic presumably did not help as the strike pairing of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner were cut adrift.

It is hard to see Tuchel adopting the same approach in Turin. The wily Italian rearguard, led by veterans Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, not to mention young Dutch talent Matthijs de Ligt (linked with a move to Chelsea in recent days), will have to be at their best to preserve their unbeaten run in the competition.

Both sides should qualify for the last 16 but the pressure will ease enormously if either of these giants prevails on Wednesday.

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Premier League

History

The sides have only met four times competitively in history – all in the past 12 years and all in this competition.

In 2009, a Didier Drogba goal earned Chelsea a 1-0 home success in the last 16 before the second leg in Italy ended 2-2, with Drogba again on target, as Chelsea prevailed 3-2 on aggregate.

Their other scorer that night was Michael Essien with Vincenzo Iaquinta and Alessandro Del Piero the Juve marksmen.

Fast forward three years and the sides met again in the group stage of the competition when Chelsea were reigning champions.

Another 2-2 draw followed at Stamford Bridge when Brazilian Oscar delivered arguably his finest moment in a Chelsea shirt with a quickfire double before Arturo Vidal and Fabio Quagliarella restored parity.

The return fixture, however, was a bit of a rout as Quagliarella, Vidal and Sebastian Giovinco all found the net in a 3-0 home win which resulted in Roberto di Matteo losing his job in the Chelsea hot seat.