Juventus will go for its first home win in this edition of the Champions League on Tuesday evening, when the Italian football giant takes on Hungarian champions Ferencvaros in-house. With a victory, the Italians are almost certain of wintering in the European champions ball, while the Hungarians desperately need the points in their battle for third place in group G.
Juventus:
After a difficult start, Andrea Pirlo is starting to feel more and more at ease as a Juventus coach. The club from Turin is starting to get in better shape, and last weekend with a 2-0 win, the weak Cagliari had no problems. Cristiano Ronaldo claimed the leading role in that duel with two goals, although the Italian newspapers were also full of praise for the performance of Matthijs de Ligt. ‘A wall,’ is how Tuttosport described the Dutch man who made his comeback after months of injuries.
So things are going in the right direction again with Juventus, which is also doing well in the Champions League. The Old Lady previously lost 0-2 to FC Barcelona in their own Allianz Stadium, but managed to win at Dynamo Kiev (0-2) and Ferencvaros (1-4). With a new victory over Ferencvaros, Pirlo’s team therefore takes a huge step towards the knockout phase. There is again a key role for De Ligt on Tuesday evening, as Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini are still in the rag basket. In the front, the Italians are of course counting on Ronaldo again, who is still waiting for his first Champions League goal of the season due to an earlier corona contamination.
Ferencvaros:
For Ferencvaros, the season can no longer go wrong anyway, after the Hungarians managed to reach the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in 25 years. With FC Barcelona and Juventus as group members, wintering in the ball of millions was of course a utopia in advance, but with a bit of luck the club from Budapest can continue as number three in the Europa League after the winter break. At the moment, Ferencvaros and Dynamo Kiev are each in a shared third place. The mutual duel in the final round of play will probably be decisive, although trainer Sergey Rebrov secretly hopes for a stunt in Turin.
However, that chance is very small. Ferencvaros is still unbeaten in his own country this season, but Juventus-away is a bit different from Honved-away last weekend (0-1 win thanks to a goal from Marcel Heister). The good news is that the Hungarians have been able to score very easily this season. Even in her three group matches in the Champions League, Fradi managed to make the net at least once. The Norwegian striker Tokmac Nguen in particular is a player to keep a close eye on.
