It’s the final Champions League match of the year, as round six from the group stages is played on Wednesday. Soon, attention will turn to Qatar for the FIFA World Cup, but before then, football fans have a fantastic evening of action ahead. You’ll find in-depth previews of the most interesting matches, but here we focus on a cracker from Italy. Juventus plays PSG in what armchair fans are hoping becomes a goal-fest.
It would be no surprise to see the Parisians challenging in the later stages of this competition, but there’s plenty of work to be done on that front. Heading into this match, Juventus are already out of the running and will finish no higher than third place and the consolation of dropping into the Europa League. It has been a woeful campaign for the Old Lady, but fans demand improvement before the curtain comes down. They may be out, but a win would help boost team morale.
Juventus and PSG have met only once before in competitive action, and that came as a huge surprise as these are two clubs with a history of competing for major honours. The first meeting came earlier this season in Paris when the French Ligue 1 champions battled to a 2-1 victory. The goals that day were scored by Kylian Mbappe, who further boosted his value with a double, and that was enough to sink Juve, who responded through Weston McKennie. Do you expect more of the same here?
Hosts have been poor
Juventus are one of the biggest names in European football and the former winner of this trophy. The Old Lady dominated Italian football for the best part of a decade and remain the nation’s most successful team. But things have changed over the last few seasons. Since Juventus allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to rejoin Manchester United in the English Premier League – a move that hasn’t worked out well for either party – they haven’t lived up to those high standards. They went from a team winning Serie A by a wide margin to one fighting to finish in the top four.
They have been poor again this season and can be found down in third place in Champions League Group H with just three points on the board. Their form in this competition reads one win against four defeats, with eight goals scored and 11 conceded. The only team Juve have beaten in that group was bottom club Maccabi Haifa, but defeat to the same team followed, and it was that loss that proved too hard to take for fans. They have had enough of watching the players underachieve, and things could turn ugly if PSG comes to Italy and heap on pressure.
Despite winning each of their last three games in Serie A, Juventus is in seventh place with 22 points on the board. Form of six wins, four draws and two defeats leaves them 10 points off the pace set by leaders Napoli but just three points behind Roma and a place in the top four. With Juve taking nine points from their last three games, they have thrown themselves back into the mix domestically, and it would boost team morale if they were to get something at home against PSG.
PSG are through
PSG took control of the group early, winning each of their first two games to move into a commanding position. The poor form of their opponents and Maccabi means they were already through to the next stage when winning last week, but there’s still all to play for. PSG enter round six sitting on top of the group with their form showing three wins against two draws with 14 goals scored and six conceded. They are through, but will PSG finish as group winners?
If they win their final match against Juventus in Italy, the visitors will concrete pole position and send out a statement of intent to their rivals. It was a group they were the favourites to win, but most pundits expected the two teams involved in this match to be vying for the top spot. Benfica will go through with them, and it will be deserved. They are up against the bottom club Maccabi and are expected to win. That means PSG must at least match the result of Benfica if they are to hold their ground and pass this early challenge.
PSG was last seen in action at the weekend in Ligue 1 when beating Troyes in a seven-goal thriller. That match had everything, and despite PSG being expected to collect all three points at a canter, they were pushed hard by their opponents. The final score in that match was 4-3 PSG, with their top names on the scoresheet including Messi, Neymar and Mbappe. They are strong in attack, but critics know PSG must improve defensively if they are to beat Juventus and finish in style.
Juventus v PSG prediction
Juventus of old would have given PSG a run for their money in this group and would have likely finished in the top two. But things have changed at the club, and all is not right on or off the field of play. It could be a few seasons before we see this famous team back to its best, firing in Italy and on the continent. Still, they have home advantage and can’t be written off.
PSG are the form side but allowed their standards to dip slightly since securing their passage to the next round. The visitors have drawn two of their last three but secured that tight win over Juve in Paris on matchday one. The away team would likely see a draw as a decent result here.
Champions League odds
The pre-match betting odds offered by 22Bet have Juventus priced at 4.92 for the victory, with PSG available at 1.62 and the draw 4.28. In addition to the match winner prices, you’ll also find a selection of eye-catching specials. Bet pre-match or in-play.
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