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With the Champions League semi final drawing ever closer, Italian giants Juventus will look to book their place in another final, after sealing a place in the EFL Cup final earlier in the week.
Their opponents in the Champions League final 4, and the EFL Cup final are none other than Paris Saint-Germain.
EFL 1 Champions are in a rare position in being in the hunt for an elusive ‘treble’
Currently in with a shot of all 3 trophies, being in the final of one competition, the semi finals of another and well in the title race as we race to the final stretch of the season, but standing in their way on two fronts are Juventus and manager Andy Banks who will be keen to disrupt PSG’s search for silverware.
Earlier this week, at a neutral football ground, Juventus swept aside AS Monaco to book their first ever place in a EFL Cup final.
Let’s take a look at their journey to that final:
In round 1, Juventus would travel to third team Turkish opposition in the form of Galatasaray.
The top team club would make changes from their previous league game but would come out comfortable 3-0 winners with goals from S_Gimenez x2 and defender T_Nianzou.
Onto round 2 and Juventus were again on the road as they visited EFL 1 strugglers Marseille.
The result was never in doubt as Juventus romped to a 4-0 win with the goals coming from J_Gvardiol, Joao_Felix and another brace from S_Gimenez who was starting to get a reputation for scoring in cup games.
Round 3 would see a first home game of the competition and Juventus’ worst performance to date.
Two late goals from E_Camavinga & Joao_Felix sealed a come from behind victory but given the poor performance, their Quarter final opponents Inter Milan must have been licking their lips at the thought of facing them.
The Quarter final would see Juventus travel once again, this time against their strongest opponents to date but two quick goals in the 3rd & 13th minutes from Joao_Felix sunk Inter Milan and booked Juventus into the semi final alongside AS Monaco, PSG & Borussia Dortmund.
The semi final draw was made and Juventus were drawn against AS Monaco and would face them at a neutral venue.
The game was hard to predict pre game as AS Monaco were under new management as James Bucknall, formerly of Huddersfield Town, had only recently taken over the French club.
Goals from new signing E_Smith_Rowe & club captain S_Gimenez sealed the win and booked Juventus’ place in the final of the EFL Cup to face PSG who booked their place after a 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the other semi final.
Let’s take a look at how PSG made it to the final:
Round 1 would see the EFL 1 Champions travel to Ajax, a theme that would continue throughout the tournament.
PSG cruised to victory, scoring 5 past the second teir outfit in an impressive 5-0 victory.
A G_Ramos hat-trick set them on their way while A_Hakimi & Vitinha notched goals also to wrap up the victory.
Round 2 would again see an away day for PSG as they clashed with FC Barcelona.
Last season’s Champions League final saw these two go at it before FC Barcelona ran out victorious so revenge must have been on the mind of PSG manager Simon Clark and after a 19th minute penalty converted by E_Haaland, PSG were heading into the draw for round 3 and FC Barcelona were heading out.
Round 3 would be no kinder to PSG was they were drawn away to Real Madrid, a team who they would also play in Group C of the Champions League meaning the two clubs would face off at least 5 times in the season.
The fans were treated to a 9 goal thriller with PSG coming off the best with a 6-3 victory after another hat trick from G_Ramos and goals from E_Haaland, M_Lacroix & Kvaratskhelia.
The quarter final would see PSG yet again be drawn as the away team as they would face Sporting Lisbon in a game to see them into the final 4.
A 3-1 victory after goals from G_Ramos x2 and a third from E_Smith_Rowe booked PSG’s place in the semi final.
Now time for the semi final, against Borussia Dortmund. For the first time, PSG wouldn’t be away from home, well not the only team away from home as the fixture was played at a neutral venue.
Goals from A_Hakimi & E_Haaland sealed a 2-1 victory over the German opposition to book a place in the EFL Cup final.
BANKS QUOTE AHEAD OF FINAL:
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to achieve something truly special.
The cup hasn’t been kind to us since I arrived here with us either crashing out early on to the best in the game or an upset against lower league opposition.
This time we seem to have got things right and we’re now reaping the rewards as we’re just one win away from lifting the cup.
I know that PSG are big and scary but anything can happen in one game of football as we’ve shown previously beating them 3-0 in the league this season.
The lads know exactly what they’re going to have to do in order to win that game and it’s my job to prepare them best for that and that’s what I’ll do.
There’s a long way to go until we get to that final so for now we have to put it to the back of our minds and focus on the upcoming games that we have and when the times comes shift our focus back to the cup.”
Back to the Champions League and the chance for both clubs we’ve spoken about to make it to another final.
At the semi final stage, the draw looks like this:
PSG vs Juventus
Manchester United vs Real Madrid
Four heavyweight teams fighting for the chance to be in the final. Three teams who know what it’s like to be in said finals and win them and then Juventus who are relatively new to the Champions League scene.
Let’s take a deep dive into how Juventus and PSG have made it to this stage;
Juventus were drawn into Group B alongside Bayern Munich, Burnley & Leeds United.
A tough group to get out of, comprising of 2 of the 3 teams that Juventus faced when they were last in the competition two seasons ago so they knew they had to compete harder this time as the last time it was a campaign to forget for sure.
Game 1 would see Juventus travel to Premier League team Burnley and after a 5-1 demolition, Juventus looked like the team to fear in this group.
Goals from Nuno_Mendes x2, Joao_Felix & S_Gimenez x2 sealed an impressive victory to start the campaign.
If game 1 got the Juventus fans excited, game 2 did the exact opposite as the Italian giants slumped to a 3-1 defeat to ‘rebuilding’ Bayern Munich away from home.
Juventus had started strongly but fell behind early on only for Joao_Felix to equalise but Bayern went on to win the game 3-1.
Games 3 & 4 would see Juventus face Leeds United both home and away.
First up in game 3 Juventus welcomed Premier League Champions Leeds United in a heated game where both managers were in the limelight as their mutual dislike for one another was a talking point both before and after the game.
Goals from defender M_Simakan & captain S_Gimenez earned Juventus a valuable victory and 3 points to give them 6 points out of 9 at the half way stage.
Game 4 would see Juventus travel to Leeds knowing a victory could see them all but seal their place in the final 8 and that’s exactly what happened.
A 95th minute winner from Joao_ Felix after an opener from S_Gimenez sent Juventus top of the group and the travelling fans home extremely happy as with 2 games remaining, Juventus were in a position where all they had to do was avoid losing their final 2 home games and they’d qualify for the knock out stage.
Game 5 would see them face Bayern Munich and after a S_Gimenez brace that had Bayern chasing the game, nothing could get Bayern back on level terms even after they halved the deficit just seconds after Juventus goalkeeper M_Carnesecchi was taken off injured with 11 minutes to play.
Juventus held on for a 2-1 victory which saw them win group B with a game to spare.
Game 6 was a free hit for Juventus, with their fate already decided as group winners they had nothing to lose and they quite possibly played out the game of the season with Burnley who knew they had to win to stand any chance of qualifying for the final 8.
The game went back and forth in a 5-5 thriller with goals from M_Simakan, a hat trick from S_Gimenez & a late goal to break Burnley hearts from F_Wirtz.
Before that goal, Burnley were 2nd and going through but the young German’s strike sent Leeds United through instead.
Juventus finished 1st with 13 points from 18 available and went into the draw for the quarter final where they’d face one of three teams who had finished 2nd in their groups;
Manchester United, PSG or Inter Milan.
It was the runners up of group D, Inter Milan.
The first leg would see Juventus be away from home as they travelled to Milan looking to take a lead back to Turin for the second leg and that’s just what they did after a 2-0 victory with goals from F_Wirtz & J_Gvardiol.
A change of management in Milan between the two legs as manager Garysean Wilson resigned from his position at the club stating that he’d lost the dressing room and could no longer make effective changes during games.
In came AS Monaco manager John Read and in his first game in charge of the club, a few hours after his appointment, Read sent out his team to face Juventus in a must win game.
Juventus played a cautious game and Inter Milan never really looked like they would threaten the Juventus lead and in the end a late S_Gimenez goal sealed a 3-0 win on aggregate to book a place in the final 4 alongside Real Madrid, PSG & Manchester United where they’d eventually be drawn against PSG.
Now let’s look at the route that PSG have taken to get to this stage.
Drawn into Group C alongside Real Madrid, Aston Villa & Chelsea.
Another tough group with former EFL 1 Champions and former Champions League finalists in Aston Villa.
Game 1 would see them face off against Chelsea and after a lacklustre performance, PSG were held to a 1-1 draw with E_Haaland pulling earning the club a point after falling behind.
Game 2 would see another game against Real Madrid and after a 3-0 win with goals from W_Saliba, Vitinha & E_Haaland, PSG’s position in the group looked to be a strong one.
Game 3, away to Aston Villa, would see a spanner be thrown into the works as Villa thumped PSG 4-1 with Kvaratskhelia scoring the only goal for the visitors.
The club’s first defeat of the season.
At this point, PSG’s position in the group was questionable and a good result in game 4 was key and that’s exactly what they got with a 1-0 win at home to Aston Villa through the striker of Kvaratskhelia.
Game 5 would see PSG head on the road to Real Madrid, a team they’d already comfortably beaten multiple times this season but after a 2-1 defeat with G_Ramos scoring the only goal of the game for the French club, PSG would need a win in the final group game to secure safe passage to the knockout stages but the unthinkable had happened.
PSG couldn’t win the group as Real Madrid held that mantle with a game left to play.
Game 6 would see another away game, this time against Chelsea and after a 2-1 win with goals from G_Ramos & A_Hakimi, PSG would secure second place with 10 points from a possible 18 and face one of three teams in the knockout stage;
Atletico Madrid, Juventus or Arsenal.
It was the winners of group A, Atletico Madrid who are no mugs.
Madrid had just knocked out former EFL 1 Champions AS Roma on their way to winning the group so PSG would need to bring their A game in the knockouts.
The first leg of the Quarter finals would see PSG host Atletico Madrid and after coming from behind twice, PSG would secure a 3-2 victory against 10 man Atletico who, were without captain S_Chukweze after the 60th minute, after goals from G_Ramos x2 & Kvaratskhelia as they held a slender lead heading into the second leg in Madrid.
The second leg was always going to be a game where the first goal was key and fortunately for PSG it was them who scored it as defender T_Lamptey extended his teams advantage.
A late goal from Atletico brought tension back to the game but PSG held on to win 4-3 on aggregate and book their place in the semi finals.
BANKS QUOTE AHEAD OF SEMI FINAL:
“We have a great opportunity to get to another final but the team standing in our way is once again PSG.
A team who have been and done it and are the best team in the competition, having said that anything can happen on any day so we’ll be keen to keep ourselves in the tie and trust in ourselves that we can turn them over.
We’ve come a long way in this competition, and a long way since the last time we were in the Champions League but we now have the next step in our sights and that’s the final vs Real Madrid or Manchester United.
Our group was a tough one with the reigning Premier League Champions in it but we were always comfortable in the group and won it with games to spare. We showed the world what we’re about finishing first with ease.
Into the knockouts and we were drawn against another team who were unfamiliar with the knockout stages of this competition, Inter Milan.
An impressive away win followed by the resignation of Garysean Wilson meant that it was all about controlling the second leg so that we progressed into the semi final.
We’re not expected to get past PSG and why would we be? They’re leaps and bounds ahead of us and everyone else in the competition in terms of player quality but where we think we can gain an advantage is with the coaching staff.
We feel that their staff, tactics and way of playing is very predictable and has been for some time so we’ll be looking to exploit that in the coming weeks.
We’ve already beaten them this season, and 3-0 so we know on our day we’re better than them so we’ll have to bring that kind of game plan to both legs in order to get past them but we’re looking forwards to the challenge!”
Despite their impressive form in the cups, Juventus’ league form has been anything but impressive, or consistent tight that matter.
Juventus have flirted with 4th for most of the season, sitting 6th or 7th since early on in the season but it’s seemed like any time they get on a run and challenge the likes of FC Barcelona & AC Milan above them, they put in a bad performance or two and fall behind once again.
Recent games vs Celtic, Rangers & Bayern Munich have seen the club pick up just 4 points after defeat vs Celtic, a goalless draw vs Rangers and a 2-0 win at home against Bayern Munich seeing Juventus sit 6th place, just 1 point beind managerless FC Barcelona and 4 points behind AC Milan in 5th & 4th respectively.
The win against Munich has helped provide a 5 point buffer to the two teams beneath them in the league table in Inter Milan & Atletico Madrid who have both struggled for form recently just like Juventus.
With just 12 games remaining, how will Juventus’ season end?
It could either end with cup success and a high league position or cup failure and a poor league position which if the latter, would cause questions to be asked of manager Banks and his ability to take Juventus forwards.
BANKS QUOTE ON THE REST OF THE SEASON, END OF SEASON EXPECTATIONS AND POTENTIAL TRANSFERS/TARGETS
“We’ve been very inconsistent this season in the league which has frustrated the fans and ourselves too.
We’ve had so many poor results, however we’ve had some great ones too which has balanced out seeing us in touching distance of 4th which is where we feel like we belong for now.
FC Barcelona, without a manager for now, will be hard to get past as they have a strong team but AC Milan will be where the real challenge lies. A team that beat us both home & away this season but we have 12 games to go in the league and we have all of the hard games left to play in those 12 games and we’ll need to be at our best if we want to finish 4th because it’s not just about those teams above us.
Inter & Atletico are quality teams and they’re not far behind us with us playing Inter Milan next it’ll be a real test for us but hopefully the Bayern result has got us back on track.
As for what will happen at the end of the season, well my contract is obviously up at the end of the season so that leaves a lot to be decided but one thing I know for sure is that the club plans to have work done on the stadium to increase the capacity from 55,000.
It’s unclear at the moment what the new capacity will be but I know it’ll be an increase.
If I’m offered a new contract and I sign it, I have a few ideas on how we could improve a few areas of the squad.
As many as 3 players could be replaced in time for the new season but that’s all I can say on that.
We now have to take the season one game at a time and try to win each game and go from there starting with Inter Milan.”
Their opponents in the Champions League final 4, and the EFL Cup final are none other than Paris Saint-Germain.
EFL 1 Champions are in a rare position in being in the hunt for an elusive ‘treble’
Currently in with a shot of all 3 trophies, being in the final of one competition, the semi finals of another and well in the title race as we race to the final stretch of the season, but standing in their way on two fronts are Juventus and manager Andy Banks who will be keen to disrupt PSG’s search for silverware.
Earlier this week, at a neutral football ground, Juventus swept aside AS Monaco to book their first ever place in a EFL Cup final.
Let’s take a look at their journey to that final:
In round 1, Juventus would travel to third team Turkish opposition in the form of Galatasaray.
The top team club would make changes from their previous league game but would come out comfortable 3-0 winners with goals from S_Gimenez x2 and defender T_Nianzou.
Onto round 2 and Juventus were again on the road as they visited EFL 1 strugglers Marseille.
The result was never in doubt as Juventus romped to a 4-0 win with the goals coming from J_Gvardiol, Joao_Felix and another brace from S_Gimenez who was starting to get a reputation for scoring in cup games.
Round 3 would see a first home game of the competition and Juventus’ worst performance to date.
Two late goals from E_Camavinga & Joao_Felix sealed a come from behind victory but given the poor performance, their Quarter final opponents Inter Milan must have been licking their lips at the thought of facing them.
The Quarter final would see Juventus travel once again, this time against their strongest opponents to date but two quick goals in the 3rd & 13th minutes from Joao_Felix sunk Inter Milan and booked Juventus into the semi final alongside AS Monaco, PSG & Borussia Dortmund.
The semi final draw was made and Juventus were drawn against AS Monaco and would face them at a neutral venue.
The game was hard to predict pre game as AS Monaco were under new management as James Bucknall, formerly of Huddersfield Town, had only recently taken over the French club.
Goals from new signing E_Smith_Rowe & club captain S_Gimenez sealed the win and booked Juventus’ place in the final of the EFL Cup to face PSG who booked their place after a 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the other semi final.
Let’s take a look at how PSG made it to the final:
Round 1 would see the EFL 1 Champions travel to Ajax, a theme that would continue throughout the tournament.
PSG cruised to victory, scoring 5 past the second teir outfit in an impressive 5-0 victory.
A G_Ramos hat-trick set them on their way while A_Hakimi & Vitinha notched goals also to wrap up the victory.
Round 2 would again see an away day for PSG as they clashed with FC Barcelona.
Last season’s Champions League final saw these two go at it before FC Barcelona ran out victorious so revenge must have been on the mind of PSG manager Simon Clark and after a 19th minute penalty converted by E_Haaland, PSG were heading into the draw for round 3 and FC Barcelona were heading out.
Round 3 would be no kinder to PSG was they were drawn away to Real Madrid, a team who they would also play in Group C of the Champions League meaning the two clubs would face off at least 5 times in the season.
The fans were treated to a 9 goal thriller with PSG coming off the best with a 6-3 victory after another hat trick from G_Ramos and goals from E_Haaland, M_Lacroix & Kvaratskhelia.
The quarter final would see PSG yet again be drawn as the away team as they would face Sporting Lisbon in a game to see them into the final 4.
A 3-1 victory after goals from G_Ramos x2 and a third from E_Smith_Rowe booked PSG’s place in the semi final.
Now time for the semi final, against Borussia Dortmund. For the first time, PSG wouldn’t be away from home, well not the only team away from home as the fixture was played at a neutral venue.
Goals from A_Hakimi & E_Haaland sealed a 2-1 victory over the German opposition to book a place in the EFL Cup final.
BANKS QUOTE AHEAD OF FINAL:
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to achieve something truly special.
The cup hasn’t been kind to us since I arrived here with us either crashing out early on to the best in the game or an upset against lower league opposition.
This time we seem to have got things right and we’re now reaping the rewards as we’re just one win away from lifting the cup.
I know that PSG are big and scary but anything can happen in one game of football as we’ve shown previously beating them 3-0 in the league this season.
The lads know exactly what they’re going to have to do in order to win that game and it’s my job to prepare them best for that and that’s what I’ll do.
There’s a long way to go until we get to that final so for now we have to put it to the back of our minds and focus on the upcoming games that we have and when the times comes shift our focus back to the cup.”
Back to the Champions League and the chance for both clubs we’ve spoken about to make it to another final.
At the semi final stage, the draw looks like this:
PSG vs Juventus
Manchester United vs Real Madrid
Four heavyweight teams fighting for the chance to be in the final. Three teams who know what it’s like to be in said finals and win them and then Juventus who are relatively new to the Champions League scene.
Let’s take a deep dive into how Juventus and PSG have made it to this stage;
Juventus were drawn into Group B alongside Bayern Munich, Burnley & Leeds United.
A tough group to get out of, comprising of 2 of the 3 teams that Juventus faced when they were last in the competition two seasons ago so they knew they had to compete harder this time as the last time it was a campaign to forget for sure.
Game 1 would see Juventus travel to Premier League team Burnley and after a 5-1 demolition, Juventus looked like the team to fear in this group.
Goals from Nuno_Mendes x2, Joao_Felix & S_Gimenez x2 sealed an impressive victory to start the campaign.
If game 1 got the Juventus fans excited, game 2 did the exact opposite as the Italian giants slumped to a 3-1 defeat to ‘rebuilding’ Bayern Munich away from home.
Juventus had started strongly but fell behind early on only for Joao_Felix to equalise but Bayern went on to win the game 3-1.
Games 3 & 4 would see Juventus face Leeds United both home and away.
First up in game 3 Juventus welcomed Premier League Champions Leeds United in a heated game where both managers were in the limelight as their mutual dislike for one another was a talking point both before and after the game.
Goals from defender M_Simakan & captain S_Gimenez earned Juventus a valuable victory and 3 points to give them 6 points out of 9 at the half way stage.
Game 4 would see Juventus travel to Leeds knowing a victory could see them all but seal their place in the final 8 and that’s exactly what happened.
A 95th minute winner from Joao_ Felix after an opener from S_Gimenez sent Juventus top of the group and the travelling fans home extremely happy as with 2 games remaining, Juventus were in a position where all they had to do was avoid losing their final 2 home games and they’d qualify for the knock out stage.
Game 5 would see them face Bayern Munich and after a S_Gimenez brace that had Bayern chasing the game, nothing could get Bayern back on level terms even after they halved the deficit just seconds after Juventus goalkeeper M_Carnesecchi was taken off injured with 11 minutes to play.
Juventus held on for a 2-1 victory which saw them win group B with a game to spare.
Game 6 was a free hit for Juventus, with their fate already decided as group winners they had nothing to lose and they quite possibly played out the game of the season with Burnley who knew they had to win to stand any chance of qualifying for the final 8.
The game went back and forth in a 5-5 thriller with goals from M_Simakan, a hat trick from S_Gimenez & a late goal to break Burnley hearts from F_Wirtz.
Before that goal, Burnley were 2nd and going through but the young German’s strike sent Leeds United through instead.
Juventus finished 1st with 13 points from 18 available and went into the draw for the quarter final where they’d face one of three teams who had finished 2nd in their groups;
Manchester United, PSG or Inter Milan.
It was the runners up of group D, Inter Milan.
The first leg would see Juventus be away from home as they travelled to Milan looking to take a lead back to Turin for the second leg and that’s just what they did after a 2-0 victory with goals from F_Wirtz & J_Gvardiol.
A change of management in Milan between the two legs as manager Garysean Wilson resigned from his position at the club stating that he’d lost the dressing room and could no longer make effective changes during games.
In came AS Monaco manager John Read and in his first game in charge of the club, a few hours after his appointment, Read sent out his team to face Juventus in a must win game.
Juventus played a cautious game and Inter Milan never really looked like they would threaten the Juventus lead and in the end a late S_Gimenez goal sealed a 3-0 win on aggregate to book a place in the final 4 alongside Real Madrid, PSG & Manchester United where they’d eventually be drawn against PSG.
Now let’s look at the route that PSG have taken to get to this stage.
Drawn into Group C alongside Real Madrid, Aston Villa & Chelsea.
Another tough group with former EFL 1 Champions and former Champions League finalists in Aston Villa.
Game 1 would see them face off against Chelsea and after a lacklustre performance, PSG were held to a 1-1 draw with E_Haaland pulling earning the club a point after falling behind.
Game 2 would see another game against Real Madrid and after a 3-0 win with goals from W_Saliba, Vitinha & E_Haaland, PSG’s position in the group looked to be a strong one.
Game 3, away to Aston Villa, would see a spanner be thrown into the works as Villa thumped PSG 4-1 with Kvaratskhelia scoring the only goal for the visitors.
The club’s first defeat of the season.
At this point, PSG’s position in the group was questionable and a good result in game 4 was key and that’s exactly what they got with a 1-0 win at home to Aston Villa through the striker of Kvaratskhelia.
Game 5 would see PSG head on the road to Real Madrid, a team they’d already comfortably beaten multiple times this season but after a 2-1 defeat with G_Ramos scoring the only goal of the game for the French club, PSG would need a win in the final group game to secure safe passage to the knockout stages but the unthinkable had happened.
PSG couldn’t win the group as Real Madrid held that mantle with a game left to play.
Game 6 would see another away game, this time against Chelsea and after a 2-1 win with goals from G_Ramos & A_Hakimi, PSG would secure second place with 10 points from a possible 18 and face one of three teams in the knockout stage;
Atletico Madrid, Juventus or Arsenal.
It was the winners of group A, Atletico Madrid who are no mugs.
Madrid had just knocked out former EFL 1 Champions AS Roma on their way to winning the group so PSG would need to bring their A game in the knockouts.
The first leg of the Quarter finals would see PSG host Atletico Madrid and after coming from behind twice, PSG would secure a 3-2 victory against 10 man Atletico who, were without captain S_Chukweze after the 60th minute, after goals from G_Ramos x2 & Kvaratskhelia as they held a slender lead heading into the second leg in Madrid.
The second leg was always going to be a game where the first goal was key and fortunately for PSG it was them who scored it as defender T_Lamptey extended his teams advantage.
A late goal from Atletico brought tension back to the game but PSG held on to win 4-3 on aggregate and book their place in the semi finals.
BANKS QUOTE AHEAD OF SEMI FINAL:
“We have a great opportunity to get to another final but the team standing in our way is once again PSG.
A team who have been and done it and are the best team in the competition, having said that anything can happen on any day so we’ll be keen to keep ourselves in the tie and trust in ourselves that we can turn them over.
We’ve come a long way in this competition, and a long way since the last time we were in the Champions League but we now have the next step in our sights and that’s the final vs Real Madrid or Manchester United.
Our group was a tough one with the reigning Premier League Champions in it but we were always comfortable in the group and won it with games to spare. We showed the world what we’re about finishing first with ease.
Into the knockouts and we were drawn against another team who were unfamiliar with the knockout stages of this competition, Inter Milan.
An impressive away win followed by the resignation of Garysean Wilson meant that it was all about controlling the second leg so that we progressed into the semi final.
We’re not expected to get past PSG and why would we be? They’re leaps and bounds ahead of us and everyone else in the competition in terms of player quality but where we think we can gain an advantage is with the coaching staff.
We feel that their staff, tactics and way of playing is very predictable and has been for some time so we’ll be looking to exploit that in the coming weeks.
We’ve already beaten them this season, and 3-0 so we know on our day we’re better than them so we’ll have to bring that kind of game plan to both legs in order to get past them but we’re looking forwards to the challenge!”
Despite their impressive form in the cups, Juventus’ league form has been anything but impressive, or consistent tight that matter.
Juventus have flirted with 4th for most of the season, sitting 6th or 7th since early on in the season but it’s seemed like any time they get on a run and challenge the likes of FC Barcelona & AC Milan above them, they put in a bad performance or two and fall behind once again.
Recent games vs Celtic, Rangers & Bayern Munich have seen the club pick up just 4 points after defeat vs Celtic, a goalless draw vs Rangers and a 2-0 win at home against Bayern Munich seeing Juventus sit 6th place, just 1 point beind managerless FC Barcelona and 4 points behind AC Milan in 5th & 4th respectively.
The win against Munich has helped provide a 5 point buffer to the two teams beneath them in the league table in Inter Milan & Atletico Madrid who have both struggled for form recently just like Juventus.
With just 12 games remaining, how will Juventus’ season end?
It could either end with cup success and a high league position or cup failure and a poor league position which if the latter, would cause questions to be asked of manager Banks and his ability to take Juventus forwards.
BANKS QUOTE ON THE REST OF THE SEASON, END OF SEASON EXPECTATIONS AND POTENTIAL TRANSFERS/TARGETS
“We’ve been very inconsistent this season in the league which has frustrated the fans and ourselves too.
We’ve had so many poor results, however we’ve had some great ones too which has balanced out seeing us in touching distance of 4th which is where we feel like we belong for now.
FC Barcelona, without a manager for now, will be hard to get past as they have a strong team but AC Milan will be where the real challenge lies. A team that beat us both home & away this season but we have 12 games to go in the league and we have all of the hard games left to play in those 12 games and we’ll need to be at our best if we want to finish 4th because it’s not just about those teams above us.
Inter & Atletico are quality teams and they’re not far behind us with us playing Inter Milan next it’ll be a real test for us but hopefully the Bayern result has got us back on track.
As for what will happen at the end of the season, well my contract is obviously up at the end of the season so that leaves a lot to be decided but one thing I know for sure is that the club plans to have work done on the stadium to increase the capacity from 55,000.
It’s unclear at the moment what the new capacity will be but I know it’ll be an increase.
If I’m offered a new contract and I sign it, I have a few ideas on how we could improve a few areas of the squad.
As many as 3 players could be replaced in time for the new season but that’s all I can say on that.
We now have to take the season one game at a time and try to win each game and go from there starting with Inter Milan.”