Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Maccabi Haifa

Juventus has three games left in the Champions League group stage to try and make up for their opening two games that were filled with absolute suck. And while the last two games of the group stage look rather daunting considering both how Juve’s playing and who the opponents will be, there still very much is mathematical possibilities of making it to the round of 16 come the new year.

So this is what Group H looks like heading to the second half of the group stage schedule:

Even with a win over Maccabi Haifa tonight, Juventus won’t end the day in anywhere other than third place in Group H behind Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain. The hope, of course, is that one of those two sides can with the other game happening in the group on Tuesday night, giving Juventus at least a chance to make something happen in the final two games of the group stage.

But if there’s a Juve win and a PSG-Benfica draw ... gulp.

The way this season has gone so far, you’re totally fair to think that Door No. 2 is going to happen and Juve will see things get even that much tougher going to the last two games of the group stage.

And if something actually goes Juve’s way? Well, I don’t know what it would take for that to happen. Maybe we should pass around a collection bucket to try and get as much good juju going as possible.

For now, though, let’s just hope that Juventus wins in its first trip to Israel in a decade. Because if Juventus doesn’t win, then we can pretty much kiss the Champions League knockout rounds goodbye. Maybe that’s something some of us need to mentally prepare for the early months of 2023 consisting of the Europa League. But until that happens, there’s still a chance to make the Champions League Round of 16. Not a great one, but there’s still one if things go Juve’s way for once this season.

That would be a pleasant change compared to the last two months of Juventus-related things, wouldn’t it?

MATCH INFO

When: Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022.

Where: Sammy Ofer Stadium, Haifa, Israel.

Official kickoff time: 7:45 p.m. local time in Israel; 6:45 p.m. in Italy and around Europe; 5:45 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 12:45 p.m. Eastern time, 9:45 a.m. Pacific time.

STARTING LINEUPS

Juventus starting XI (4-3-3? 4-4-2?): Szczesny; Danilo, Bonucci, Rugani, Alex Sandro; McKennie, Paredes, Rabiot; Cuadrado, Vlahovic, Di Maria.

Juventus bench: Pinsoglio, Perin, Bremer, Gatti, Locatelli, Miretti, Fagioli, Kostić, Milik, Kean, Soulé.

Maccabi Haifa starting XI (4-3-3): Cohen; Sundgren, Batubinsika, Goldberg, Cornud; Mohamed, Lavi, Chery; Pierrot, Atzili, David.

HOW TO WATCH

Television: BT Sport 1 (United Kingdom); Sky Sport Uno, Sky Sport 252 (Italy).

Online/Streaming: Paramount+ (United States); DAZN (Canada); BT Sport app, BTSport.com (United Kingdom); Sky GO Italia (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.