Champions League Game Time Thread: Juventus vs, Chelsea

Today is a very big day.

It is a big day because of who Juventus is playing tonight. But it is also a big day because Juventus, despite being shorthanded and undermanned when compared to their opponent this evening, has the chance to show what they’re made of when things look like they’re far from being ideal.

Juventus may have won two straight Serie A games entering tonight’s Champions League group stage matchup against reigning European champions Chelsea, but this is far from the club that many think can make a deep run in the competition. You look at one roster and you see one of the most complete in all of Europe. You look at Juve’s roster and you see a hodgepodge of midfielders to go with key players currently out with injury, leaving Max Allegri to scramble to find some sort of lineup that can potentially get a goal or two against one of the best defenses in Europe.

That, of course, is a tough task to begin with.

Then you take Paulo Dybala out of the equation. Then you take Alvaro Morata out of the equation. Then you basically leave Allegri with one natural striker in Moise Kean and you’ve probably sitting here a couple of hours before kickoff wondering what the hell Juve’s manager is going to do with his starting lineup.

We’re about to find out.

Same goes for what Juventus will actually be able to do against a Chelsea side that is approaching this game as a bounce back kind of opportunity following its 1-0 loss to Manchester City over the weekend. (Hint: Manchester City is a liiiiiiiitle bit better than the team Juve played this past weekend.)

So now we see what Juventus has in store for us. There is no longer any time for mystery — no matter if it’s Allegri’s starting lineup or how his team is going to play in general. It’s time to see what Juventus can do against one of the best clubs in the game these days, and hopefully there’s a good result to follow even if confidence in that happening isn’t exactly what you would call all that “high” right now.

MATCH INFO

When: Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021

Where: Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy.

Official kickoff time: 9 p.m. local time in Italy and across Europe; 8 p.m. in the United Kingdom; 3 p.m. Eastern Time; 12 p.m. Pacific Time.

STARTING LINEUPS

Juventus starting XI (4-4-2? 4-3-3?): Szczesny; Danilo, Bonucci, De Ligt, Alex Sandro; Bentancur, Locatelli, Rabiot; Cuadrado, Bernardeschi, Chiesa

Juventus bench: Pinsoglio, Perin, De Sciglio, Chiellini, McKennie, Kean, Rugani, Kulusevski

Chelsea starting XI (3-4-2-1): Mendy; Christensen, Thiago Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Kovacic, Alonso; Ziyech, Havertz; Lukaku

Chelsea bench: Kepa, Bettinelli, Werner, Loftus-Cheek, Chalobah, Niguez Esclapez, Barkley, Hudson-Odoi, Chilwell, Sarr

HOW TO WATCH

Television: BT Sport 2 (United Kingdom).

Online/mobile: Paramount+, TUDN.com, TUDN App, TUDNxtra (United States); DAZN (Canada); BTSport.com, BT Sport App (United Kingdom); Amazon Prime (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.