UEFA Champions League Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Borussia Monchengladbach

Two games down, four to go. At least that's in the group stage. We all know that this is the part of the game where we hope it's just the start of things for our beloved, not the end game. But to get to one point, you have to start at the other, and getting out of the group stage is the first step in getting to where Juve were a season ago.

Juventus enter their third Champions League group stage game with plenty of momentum in the European portion of their schedule. They've beaten Manchester City, they've beaten Sevilla and now they're looking to go 3 for 3 and beat Borussia Monchengladbach. A third consecutive win would truly cement their position as the team to beat in Group D as we hit the midway point of the group stage.

Can they do so?

Sure, we've seen them pretty much throw their domestic form out the window and play well in the Champions League. And when it comes to thinking of Juve's best performances through the first two months worth of games this season, the European games are certainly up there toward the top.

Hitting the nine-point mark would be the complete opposite of how Juventus have operated in the Champions League the last few years. We've seen them struggle against the minnows of the group and then suddenly put in one hell of an effort against the team everybody expected to cruise to the No. 1 spot. But this year, it's a little different. People expected Man City to win the group,and Juve won there. People thought Sevilla might be the sleeper team in the group, and Juve beat them pretty well.

This group stage has gotten off to the anti-Juve kind of start. So why not continue it? That sounds like a grand idea to me — especially when you consider the fact that Juventus face away games in Germany and Spain come the second half of the group stage schedule. That's ... not exactly the most ideal situation. But with a nice lead atop the group, these things are little easier to deal with.

The picture's clear for @OfficialAllegri: three points and the @ChampionsLeague knockouts are in our grasp. #JuveBMG pic.twitter.com/yPlxjxEOWY

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 21, 2015

Yes, Max, the Round of 16 does sound like a good thing. Go out there and keep doing your cool Champions League kind of things, Juventus. Let's start talking about the Round of 16 again.

Lineups

Juventus XI (3-5-2): Gianluigi Buffon; Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini; Juan Cuadrado, Sami Khedira, Claudio Marchisio, Paul Pogba, Alex Sandro; Alvaro Morata, Mario Mandzukic

Juventus bench: Neto, Daniele Rugani, Patrice Evra, Hernanes, Roberto Pereyra, Paulo Dybala, Simone Zaza

Borussia Monchengladbach XI (4-5-1): Sommer; Korb, Christensen, Dominguez, Wendt; Traore, Dahoud, Xhaka, Johnson, Stindl; Raffael

Borussia Monchengladbach bench: Sippel, Jantschke, Nordtveit, Hazard, Hahn, Drmic, Hrgota

How to watch

TV: ESPN2 (United States); PremiumSport HD (Italy); BT Sport Extra (United Kingdom)

Online: ESPN3, Fox Soccer 2GO (United States); BT Sport Live Streaming (United Kingdom); beIN Sports CONNECT Canada (Canada)

Other live viewing options can be found here, and as always, you can also follow along with us live on Twitter. If you haven't already, join the community on Black & White & Read All Over, and join in the discussion below.