Juventus v Lyon
Champions League – Wednesday, 2nd November – 19:45 GMT – Juventus Stadium
Juventus
It made a welcome change to get a little luck in the Champions League last time out. We didn’t play anywhere close to our best, endured some horrible officiating, an unecessary sending off for Mario Lemina didn’t help matters….but thankfully Juan Cuadrado was on hand to change the game, leaving us sitting pretty atop Group H.
Our form both before and after the victory in France left some cause for concern. The win over Udinese was a scrappy and squalid affair – Low on quality, the match was eventually decided by some individual magic from Paulo Dybala. Our visit to Milan might have been the worst I’ve seen Juve play in a considerable amount of time. There was little in the way of midfield creativity, the strikers looked isolated, our defence was slow to react and on the few occasions we tried to threaten, Milan were more than equal to us.
Fast forward two weeks and things are looking markedly better – A demolition of Sampdoria was a perfect reaction, especially as we invited pressure and still managed a comfortable 4-1 win. Last weekends victory over Napoli was all the more significant as it represented our toughest league match to date. Despite a slow and cautious first half, the team exploded into life in the final 45 mins and sealed a deserved win with Gonzalo Higuain netting the winner, his 8th goal in all competitions so far. It’s strong and positive form to take into a match that could have a significant impact on our progression in the Champions League.
Max Allegri confirmed part of his starting XI earlier today and warned the team against complacency.
“It will be a difficult match, as on Saturday Lyon played a good game on their travels,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
“Tomorrow qualification is in our hands and after that we can think about first place. Let’s do one thing at a time. The most important thing is getting a positive result, knowing it won’t be easy.
“Marchisio will play tomorrow. He rested against Napoli at the weekend for the most part. He brings experience, is specific to that midfield role and has improved a great deal over the last two years. Sami Khedira is fine and will also play, while all the defenders are available.
“We are just at the start of the season, so it’s normal that we can do better. We need to be competitive in all areas by March, but before then let’s not forget we haven’t qualified yet. We won at Lyon, but it was only 0-0 with Sevilla.
“Tomorrow we mustn’t ruin what we’ve built so far in this group. Danger is around every corner.”
With Paulo Dybala and Giorgio Chiellini both missing, the starting XI writes itself – Gigi Buffon in goal while Medhi Benatia joins Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli. In midfield, it’ll be Khedira, Marchisio and Miralem Pjanic while Alex Sandro and Dani Alves play on the flanks and Gonzalo Higuain and Mario Mandzukic up front.
Probable lineup:
3-5-2: Buffon; Barzgli, Bonucci, Benatia; Alves, Khedira, Marchisio, Pjanic, Sandro; Mandzukic, Higuain.
Injuries:
Pjaca (fibula), Mandragora (foot), Dybala (thigh), Chiellini (thigh)
Suspensions:
Mario Lemina.
Lyon
Probable lineup:
4-4-2: Lopes; Rafael, Mamana, Diakhaby, Morel; Ghezzal, Gonalons, Tolisso, Cornet; Lacazette, Fekir
Injuries:
Jallet, Valbuena
Suspensions:
None
Formation
https://app.football-italia.net/?referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.football-italia.net%2F93796%2Fhow-juventus-miss-dybala#page-top
do you agree?
It was Juves birthday yesterday <3
We have to win
Here’s how you can watch the Champions League live online goo.gl/l6ZlR
Great preview my friend!
I will stick by my conclusion that a team can carry one player maximum, and yet we have been carrying several all season. With Marchisio back in the integral position at DM, we need only Khedira to perform and we should be OK. Yet if both he and Pjanic are listless, we will have problems. Make no mistake, Lyon are capable and will be seeing this as the chance for revenge and progress.
4-3-1-2? Marchisio and Sturaro playing. Lets do this, FORZA JUVE!!!!
I love this starting XI, on paper at least. Good to have Claudio and Stefano back and to see Pjanic as treq!
Goooooooooooool Golzalooooooool!!!!!
Higuain!!!!!!
Much better start than our last cl game xD
How come Buffon never watches the penalty being taken?
Hes not interested
Not sure but I read him talking about that somewhere. He watches the fans’ reaction to cheer with them if it’s a goal or something like that, I only remember vaguely.
Nerves.
oh dear, how could he miss it lol
Pjanic and Bonucci off, looks like they are both taken off to give them some rest, especially Pjanic was beginning to look badly imo (from a fitness point of view)
Benatia and Sandro on instead
Thats a blooper that will probably stalk him for a while, poor Sturaro 😛
Fuck.
Sevilla destroys Zagreb 4-0 and Juve switches off in the second half, now almost conceding a second goal against Lyon.
This is not good enough
We played like we have done all season, terrible… We cant even make 5 passes without throwing the ball away.
The first half wasn’t too bad, but yes, Juve did not try hard enough to dominate the game, bag a second goal, a third goal. We scored a soft penalty and then we draw the game.
Not the end of the world, but it does leave us short handed in points. We must beat Sevilla and Zagreb, simple as that.
Playing like this we will not beat Zagreb and definitely not Sevilla. Max fucked up with his defensive playing style, after the goal we were just content and sitting back.
Italian teams are sub par … I would even say that collectively, the top 3 teams in both France and Portugal are better than the top 3 Serie A teams … italian teams are useless, their tactics are outdated and ineffective .. Teams from Serie A’s record in Europe the last decade shows that .. we can no longer compete with other leagues in Europe. Italian football, like its society, continues to decline and decay.
Im done with these prima donna’s for a while
Terrible performance. Half the team didn’t want to play. Khedira and Mandzukic have been poor for a while. Unfortunately no one to grab their places!
Khedira sucks.
oh my eyes, this is terrible
Allegri showed more urgency in running off the pitch at the end than the players
He seemed pissed. He should be pissed at himself.
what the hell was this? the worst juve in years!!! wheres the heart, passion, will , we lack fukn everything!!! kick all the players(except buffon& claudio) straight into their asses god damn.month without salary!!!
Couldn’t watch the game, but many got their wish with the 4-3-1-2! Its not the system, but the lack of passion, consistency and cohesion.
We should still get through, and as long as we avoid Barca and probably City we can hope to have a decent chance against any team come March, by which time we will have had the opportunity to play a settled squad with key players match sharp and perhaps a Witsel to add muscle and guile to the midfield.
As we have all been saying for a while now…the only positives are fairly significant –
1. We remain top of the domestic league and on course to quality for the knockout stage in Europe.
2. We have the potential to be so much better with a settled squad absent of injuries.
I really don’t want a repeat of last year mate, not a Bayern-sized giant in the round of 16 again. I do agree, we can only get better though
Nothing will change until we get the midfield sorted out. We lost the two best CMs in the Summer. One was sold, the other has only just recently returned to the squad. Pjanic has been a steady failure so far, Khedira has been playing higher up the field and is having a poor season. Having 2 of the 3 CMs out of shape leads to the disconnect through the middle between defence and attack, hence we find most penetration on the flanks…
Unfortunately, comrade…we will not see better football until we sort the midfield out. I might expand on this analysis for a piece shortly…
Disgusting.
Juve have start playing better because what they’re showing is just terrible to watch. Higuain needs to get better service and what the hell is wrong with Pjanic?!
And how about scoring more than one goal for a change. This might work in serie a but not in Cl. They have to play better if they are to beat the likes of bayern, barca etc because they’ll get humiliated if they play like this against the big teams.
The team as a whole is playing like shit, can’t even string a couple of passes together and this has been going on for quite a while now. I hope that Allegri can fix this, soon !!
Thats life.
An absolute shit show folks, in generous consideration of course. I have never seen a Juve game with this little desire. The only positive was Sandro Barzagli. The rest were painfull to watch!! Sure mandzukic plays his heart out and fights for the team but guys he is simply not good enough. Bayern and Atletico couldn’t wait to get rid of him, it clearly shows why. We seem short at every standpoint right now, from the midfield to the strike force. The team just looks clueless and is resorting to useless crosses that find no one, I’ll find an alien before one of these crosses finds a Juve player in the box. I am not sure what everyone in the midfield thinks their role is but all I saw was backwards passes. There was zero creativity today, the score is flattering considering the effort. Not really sure where to go from here but something has to change. Those calling for Allegris head are idiots no pun intended. What more can he do with the squad given to him? I watch teams that play fearless against better opposition. We play super cautious and rarely score as a result. I’d honestly like to know what the game plan was today?? It sure as hell looked like no one wanted the ball, just pass it backwards than attempt a long ball no one can get to.
Also wtf was up with alves’s eye? Did someone punch him??
Fear of losing possession due to expectations of crowd/club, lack of options available to you (players out of position due to formation, low quality teammates) or simply a player who are themselves rubbish (check out Chelsea’s Darren Cahill) can be all be reasons for sideways/backwards passing.
Juve should not be having any of those issues as reasons to justify it.
Pjanic has been useless.
And we paid too much money for higuain. That signing was a huge mistake.
I have no words for this. Very disappointed and frustrated by how we played in the second half. This is not Juventus.
This team isnt good enough and italian coaches are becoming more and more useless with each passing year.
What’s with this fucking bull shit of not starting Alexsandro, arguably their best player, for every CL game? Evra is old now, its fucking ridiculous.
I left at half time to go to work, wtf happened???
Disappointment…
Idk why this keeps happening. Players injured, taking the foot off the peddle… I still expect Juve to make it through, but whats most dissapointing is that i knew we werent gonna win when lyon scored and i actually had a feeling they would tie.
It was difficult for me to follow the match, but i feel kheidira was ineffective. He got his self in great psoitions, but ultimitaley made waste with his lack of shooting instinct and final product. A lot of his passes fell short and hes hesitant to take aim at goal.
Being me, i also have to point out the bright spots. Principino did not look too bad at all. I few shaky passes and moments where he held the ball to long, but i commend the confidence in his self. I love Alves s playing style. He may not be a fan favorite, but his touch is geats. Hes a brazilian arcitect. Calm on the ball, simple but effective and intelligent passing. Defensive setup is solid, but we still get caught and give away too many dangerous shots.
I dont enjoy drawing at home, but if im correct, madrid drew against nobodies and we did just have an intense match with Napoli. Nonetheless, this cannot keep happening.
Goal should still be topping the group, but its no longer fully in our hands.
This shift off mentality needs to go away. We will never win the cl if our players alway fall asleep after a temporar result. It takes just one chink in the armor. Juve need to shape theirselves up.
If we beat Sevilla and Zagreb, we are still group leaders, so dont panic yet. Beating Sevilla will be essential though, but it was going to be this way even if we did beat Lyon.
Simply no margin for errors left