Champions League Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Dinamo Zagreb

We know after today that Juventus’ Champions League experience for the season won’t be over. We know that it will extend into the new year, with the next European opponent to be revealed when the ping-pong balls to be opened up on Monday afternoon in Nyon. That’s what we know, that’s what’s set in stone.

Where Juventus will finish in Group H is still classified by three little letters: TBD.

The final day of the group stage will determine a lot of things. Like, mainly, if Juventus will enter the Champions League Round of 16 draw as Group H’s first- or second-place team. Some folks around here may not care considering there are European heavyweights that are finishing in second place in their groups. Others might prefer Juventus finish second for that previously mentioned notion.

But when Max Allegri’s squad takes the field at Juventus Stadium tonight against Dinamo Zagreb with two very easy to figure out scenarios:

• A Juventus win over Dinamo Zagreb gives them the top spot in Group H.
• A Juventus draw or loss and a Sevilla win gives Sevilla the top spot in Group H.

Easy enough to decipher, right?

Juventus wins the game, Juventus wins the group. It’s simple. And they’re looking to do it against a Zagreb team that has struggled mightily to do anything right in European competition this year. Even with all the injuries Juventus have dealt with as of late, all signs point toward Juventus winning the game and finishing atop the group. They’re the massive favorites against the group’s last-place team.

I don’t know about you guys, I personally loved that game. Celebrating Juventus goals is something I enjoy quite a bit. It was true then. It was true on Saturday against Atalanta. And it will (hopefully) be true tonight in the group stage finale against the same Dinamo Zagreb team Juventus rolled through a couple of months ago. That’d be nice, wouldn’t it? Yeah, it most certainly would.

MATCH INFO

Location: Juventus Stadium, Turin, Italy

Kick-off time: 8:45 p.m. local time in Italy; 7:45 p.m. in England; 2:45 p.m. on the East Coast; 11:45 a.m. on the West Coast

STARTING LINEUPS

Juventus starting XI (3-5-2): Neto; Rugani, Benatia, Evra; Cuadrado, Lemina, Marchisio, Pjanic, Asamoah; Higuain, Mandzukic

Juventus bench: Buffon, Chiellini, Alex Sandro, Khedira, Hernanes, Sturaro, Dybala

Dinamo Zagreb starting XI (4-3-3): Livakovic; Situm, Sigali, Schildenfeld, Pivaric; Moro, Knezevic, Gojak; Soudani, Coric, Fernandes

Dinamo Zagreb bench: Semper, Henriquez, Benkovic, Fiolic, Sosa, Stojanovic, Matel

WATCH IT

TV: TSN5 (Canada); BT Sport Extra (United Kingdom); PremiumSport HD (Italy)

Online: Fox Soccer 2GO USA, ESPN3 USA, WatchESPN (United States); TSN GO (Canada)

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