The Old Lady Speaks Podcast, Episode 140: Juve’s Europa League hopes are still alive

With the midpoint of Juventus’ big final stretch of games before the first international break of the 2023 arrives, the level of difficulty certain got ramped up a level or two. Things didn’t go well for Max Allegri’s squad against Roma in the Italian capital, but Juve were able to bounce back with a pair of victories that proved to be valuable in multiple ways.

The first got them a slim but all-important upperhand in the Europa League Round of 16.

The second, while completely odd in the manner in which it happened, helped Juventus get closer to the top six in Serie A and a potential European spot for next season.

Two games. Two wins. Two very different kinds of wins, but two wins nonetheless.

On this week’s episode of The Old Lady Speaks Podcast, we discuss:

• Takeaways form the week that was — including how football is still very much a game of moments both good and bad, how Matias Soulé was a very good performer off the bench against Sampdoria, and how Dusan Vlahovic is just not having a very good time right now.
• Thoughts on Juventus’ 1-0 win over Freiburg in the first leg of the Europa League Round of 16. What went right for Juve? What went wrong for Juve? What needs to change entering Thursday’s second leg in Germany?
• The question to end all questions: Will Juventus get past Freiburg and advance to the Europa League quarterfinals?
• Juventus’ defensive hopes in the second leg against Freiburg might come down to Leonardo Bonucci and/or Daniele Rugani. Not the best situation.
• How nervous did Juve’s blackout defensively make us for the rest of Sunday’s win over Sampdoria? (Hint: It was quite a bit!)
• But Juventus got the three points, so everything wasn’t so bad, right?
• Twitter questions — including the return o prodigal son, why shouldn’t Juventus give Paul Pogba’s money to Adrien Rabiot, is Sunday’s performance a good or bad sign for Dusan Vlahovic, if the crew has any game day superstitions and some talk about the BBC and Gary Linekar.

You can listen to Episode 140 of The Old Lady Speaks Podcast here:

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