Champions League Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Chelsea

As hard as it may be to believe seeing as how stressful and frustrating playing in the Champions League has been for Juventus over the last decade (or more), but going to England has been an actually quite successful trip.

No joke.

“The Bianconeri have won all their last three away games against English opponents in the Champions League, beating Manchester City in 2015 and Tottenham and Manchester United in 2018,” a post on Juventus’ official website pointed out earlier this week. “A victory over the Blues will see them become the first team to find success in four away games against English opponents in European competition.”

As we know, “The Blues” happen to be Chelsea, tonight’s opponent in the Champions League. This game, as surprising as it is, is the chance for Juventus to wrap up the top spot in Group H, which is certainly something that not many people around these parts would have thought would be possible knowing that this is the same Chelsea team that won the whole damn thing in the Champions League last year and made some serious upgrades this past summer.

But thanks to the first time these two teams played in the group stage back in September at the Juventus Stadium, Juve is atop of the group by a three-point cushion. That, of course, could disappear tonight if Max Allegri’s squad were to lose at Stamford Bridge, but the hope is that we don’t have to entertain those thoughts.

Instead, with a positive result needed to clinch first place in the group, just how Allegri plays it will be interesting to see. Sure, we expect plenty of numbers dropped back and Federico Chiesa bombing forward on the counterattack. Or, at least we hope so. But maybe, just maybe, Max might throw us a curveball and go against the grain (and our collective thought process.)

No matter what, though, all Juve need is a point. One single point. And that would be nice knowing the alternative and what kind of silliness that could be extended to the final day of the group stage in a couple of weeks.

MATCH INFO

When: Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021.

Where: Stamford Bridge, London, England.

Official kickoff time: 9 p.m. local time in Turin and continental Europe, 8 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 12 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

STARTING LINEUPS

Juventus starting XI (4-3-1-2?): Szczesny; Cuadrado, Bonucci, de Ligt, Alex Sandro; Bentancur, Locatelli, Rabiot; McKennie; Chiesa, Morata.

Juventus bench: Pinsoglio, Perin, Arthur, Dybala, Kean, Rugani, Kulusevski, De Winter.

Chelsea starting XI (3-4-3): Mendy; Chalobah, Silva, Rudiger; James, Kante, Jorginho, Chilwell; Ziyech, Pulisic, Hudson-Odoi.

Chelsea bench: Kepa, Bettinelli, Alonso, Christensen, Lukaku, Werner, Loftus-Cheek, Saul Niguez, Barkley, Mount, Azpilicueta, Sarr.

HOW TO WATCH

Television: BT Sport 2 (United Kingdom), Sky Sport Uno, Sky Sport 252, Canale 5 (Italy)

Streaming: Paramount+ (United States), DAZN (Canada), BTSport.com, BT Sport app (United Kingdom), SKY Go Italia, NOW TV, Mediaset Infinity (Italy).

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