At this point last season, Antonio Conte’s men were feeling pretty confident, having gotten over the draws that plagued them in their first three matches to wallop Danish outfit Nordsjælland at home after being held to a 1-1 stalemate two weeks prior. The Bianconeri then went on to of course, defeat reigning Champions Chelsea 3-0, effectively knocking the Blues out and making them the first team to win the Champions League one year and fail to get out of the group stages the next.
After finishing top of their group with 12 points, and more important, undefeated, they were given probably the easiest team in the round of 16, Scottish side Celtic which they had no problem defeating 5-0 and were the only side to get through without conceding a goal. Of course, their run came to a screeching halt at the hands of Bayern Munich, who outclassed the Bianconeri 2-0 in each fixture, leading Conte to make his famous skyscraper statement concerning his side.
One area that La Vecchia Signoria desperately needed to upgrade was their profligate attack, which they attempted to remedy by acquiring Fernando Llorente on a free from Athletic Bilbao and want away striker Carlos Tevez from Manchester City. And after a few hiccups, the duo seem to finally be finding their stride—something that will certainly be comfortable for the team and its supporters as they look to maintain their position as Italy’s top team this season.
However, despite their uptick in form so far domestically, the same can’t be said about them in continental competition. The Bianconeri currently sit dead last in their group, with just four points from three games, but due to the mere one point gap that divides them from second place Galatasaray they can actually jump into second place should they defeat Copenhagen Wednesday evening in Turin and if the Turkish side can’t overcome a Real Madrid side that humiliated them 6-1 in the first leg.
Conte acknowledged the task facing his squad, noting that “I’m relaxed because my team are used to playing these win-or-bust games for over two years—ones that carry a lot of responsibility and pressure. Wednesday is one of those but we know how to handle those kind of matches”. Certainly, it must feel like déjà vu for Bianconeri fans as the team drew against Danish opposition last year but were able to trounce that same side 4 to nil at home, and so they’ll be hoping that their upgraded side will succeed in pulling off the same feat.
Perhaps comforting for Juventus is the fact that while their opponents haven’t lost in six games in all competitions so far they have been quite porous at the back, having conceded eight goals so far—but the Turin giants haven’t fared much better, having conceded seven. Still, it’s important to note that seven of these same goals Copenhagen have allowed in have come on the road, while the Bianconeri can say that the last time they suffered defeat at home was their quarter-final 2-0 defeat to die Roten way back on 10 April.
So while their fate won’t entirely be in their own hands—they’ll need a Los Blancos sans Cristiano Ronaldo to defeat Galatasaray in order to progress—should La Vecchia Signora fail to defeat the Løverne (Lions), a side that is still a relative newbie to the continental stage, they will only have themselves to blame.
