In a shocking fall from grace, Juventus are now contending for the third spot in their Champions League group to ensure their place in the Europa League knockout stages.
Instead of competing against Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica for the real prize, the Italians have only collected three points from their first five matchdays, trailing behind the joint leaders by eight points.
Embarrassingly, the Turin-based giants are on par with European minnows Maccabi Haifa.
In the final matchday, Juventus will welcome PSG to the Allianz Stadium, while the Israelis host Benfica.
So what are the scenarios that allow the Old Lady passage to Europe’s second-rate competition.
As ilBianconero explains, Juventus only need to match Haifa’s result. The two sides tied 3-3 on aggregate in their double-header meeting, so we will resort to goal difference if they remain tied on points.
The Bianconeri have a significant advantage on that front with a goal difference of “-3” compared to Haifa’s “-9”.
So if Juve emerge victorious against PSG, they will definitely seal qualification, barring a miracle from Haifa.
If the Bianconeri earn a draw with Leo Messi and company, they will finish third as long as Maccabi fail to be beat Benfica.
Finally, if Juventus lose to the French champions, they will still scrape through to the Europa League if Benfica beat Maccabi – unless the Italians suffer a disastrous beating by seven goals or more, which remains an unlikely scenario, even amidst our current struggles.
