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With Round 4 of the Champions League group stage in the books, we take a deep dive into the campaign of Italian giants Juventus with a close eye on the fixtures between themselves and Leeds United.
Group B consists of Leeds United, current Premier League champions, Juventus who are currently DPT champions, Bayern Munich & Burnley.
The pre tournament favourites for qualification for the knock out stages were Leeds United & Juventus with Bayern Munich in a rebuilding stage and Burnley lacking in quality in comparison.
This, after 4 games, is NOT how the group table is shaping up.
With 4 games done and dusted, the table goes as followed:
Juventus on 9 points with 3 wins out of 4, the only defeat coming to their next opponents in the competition…Bayern Munich.
Bayern Munich on 6 points with the German outfit losing their last 2 games against Burnley after making the best possible start to the group beating both Leeds United & Juventus.
Burnley also on 6 points, just goal difference behind Bayern (Bayern on +1, Burnley on -4) who unlike Bayern lost their opening 2 games only to beat Bayern in rounds 3 & 4
Finally in 4th place currently is Leeds United, who sit on 3 points from 4 games after losing in rounds 1, 3 & 4.
Now onto the deep dive into the Juventus fixtures.
Round 1 saw them face Burnley away from home and after a brace from Nuno_Mendes & S_Giminez and a 5th from Joao_Felix, Juventus took all 3 points home in a 5-1 thrashing, perhaps a sign of things to come?
Absolutely not, as they fell in Round 2 to Bayern away from home to the tune of 3-1
They fell behind early on but fought back but goals either side of half time gave Bayern their second win in as many games and control of the group.
Up next for the Old Lady would see them face an old foe in the form of Tim Davey's Leeds United.
Leeds had beaten Banks' men home & away in their DPT group last season, with Leeds topping said group before crashing out in the Quarter Final stage as Juventus went on to win the trophy, so the Italian team would be keen for some payback/revenge and that's exactly what Round 3 brought.
At home for the first time in the competition, Banks sent his men out with a clear message: 'Attack'
A 2-1 win with goals either side of the break and with a Leeds United equaliser sandwiched between, Juventus nudged ahead of the Premier League champions in the group and with Burnley's win against Bayern the group was wide open.
It was only after Round 4 that we would see the group take stage, after a repeat of the result between Bayern Munich & Burnley, Banks' Juventus team went on the road for their final away game of the group.
Leeds away was a tough game but after being pegged back in the second half after taking the lead, it was their talisman striker Joao_Felix who sent the travelling Juventus fans into raptures while the Leeds United fans slumped into their seats even further as Juventus had completed their revenge tour with another 2-1 win against them.
Are Leeds United doomed? No, they can still beat Bayern Munich & Burnley to reach 9 points, but they'll need a favour from Juventus who also face both of those opponents.
Will Juventus win the group? It's certainly in their hands with two home games left to play, however if they lose both games then they could crash out if Bayern Munich & Burnley can get something from their games against Leeds United.
Where with Bayern Munich & Burnley finish? Burnley have definitely got all of the momentum, but anything can happen as they both have tough games to play.
We caught up with Juventus manager to ask him about recent results, and the group as a whole with the potential of progressing to the knockout stages for the first time in the club's history:
"We're certainly having a campaign to remember. 3 wins from 4 is good at any level really and to be doing it against these lot at this level makes it even more special.
Leeds United are the current Premier League champions.
Bayern, while rebuilding, are and always are a threat.
Burnley go about their business quietly but are always right up there when the season comes to a close so we knew the group would be tough and it has been. The lads have just performed really well.
The win at Burnley was a perfect way to kick off the tournament and really set us up for this time in the group stage.
A set back in Munich wasn't really what we wanted, needed OR expected after the performance we put in against Burnley but we knew we had to bounce back in the next two games.
Back to back games against Leeds United would either make or break us.
A team who beat us twice last season on their way to the final 8 and we knew we couldn't allow that to happen again or we'd be out of the competition.
We firstly beat them at our place with the result never being in doubt and at that stage, 50% the way through the group stage, it was all to play for.
We then went to Leeds where they'd no doubt be seething at the thought of losing to us and be looking to make things right. We also knew the value of a potential draw away from home.
All of that only to lose to us AGAIN. Another 2-1 victory for us where the result was never in doubt and now we sit clear at the top of the group, with home games against 2nd & 3rd in our group.
We're by no stretch of the imagination through into the knockout stages but we've certainly given ourselves the best shot at doing so and by doing that we've put Tim Davey & Leeds United right in the shit, which makes it all that much better!"​
Group B consists of Leeds United, current Premier League champions, Juventus who are currently DPT champions, Bayern Munich & Burnley.
The pre tournament favourites for qualification for the knock out stages were Leeds United & Juventus with Bayern Munich in a rebuilding stage and Burnley lacking in quality in comparison.
This, after 4 games, is NOT how the group table is shaping up.
With 4 games done and dusted, the table goes as followed:
Juventus on 9 points with 3 wins out of 4, the only defeat coming to their next opponents in the competition…Bayern Munich.
Bayern Munich on 6 points with the German outfit losing their last 2 games against Burnley after making the best possible start to the group beating both Leeds United & Juventus.
Burnley also on 6 points, just goal difference behind Bayern (Bayern on +1, Burnley on -4) who unlike Bayern lost their opening 2 games only to beat Bayern in rounds 3 & 4
Finally in 4th place currently is Leeds United, who sit on 3 points from 4 games after losing in rounds 1, 3 & 4.
Now onto the deep dive into the Juventus fixtures.
Round 1 saw them face Burnley away from home and after a brace from Nuno_Mendes & S_Giminez and a 5th from Joao_Felix, Juventus took all 3 points home in a 5-1 thrashing, perhaps a sign of things to come?
Absolutely not, as they fell in Round 2 to Bayern away from home to the tune of 3-1
They fell behind early on but fought back but goals either side of half time gave Bayern their second win in as many games and control of the group.
Up next for the Old Lady would see them face an old foe in the form of Tim Davey's Leeds United.
Leeds had beaten Banks' men home & away in their DPT group last season, with Leeds topping said group before crashing out in the Quarter Final stage as Juventus went on to win the trophy, so the Italian team would be keen for some payback/revenge and that's exactly what Round 3 brought.
At home for the first time in the competition, Banks sent his men out with a clear message: 'Attack'
A 2-1 win with goals either side of the break and with a Leeds United equaliser sandwiched between, Juventus nudged ahead of the Premier League champions in the group and with Burnley's win against Bayern the group was wide open.
It was only after Round 4 that we would see the group take stage, after a repeat of the result between Bayern Munich & Burnley, Banks' Juventus team went on the road for their final away game of the group.
Leeds away was a tough game but after being pegged back in the second half after taking the lead, it was their talisman striker Joao_Felix who sent the travelling Juventus fans into raptures while the Leeds United fans slumped into their seats even further as Juventus had completed their revenge tour with another 2-1 win against them.
Are Leeds United doomed? No, they can still beat Bayern Munich & Burnley to reach 9 points, but they'll need a favour from Juventus who also face both of those opponents.
Will Juventus win the group? It's certainly in their hands with two home games left to play, however if they lose both games then they could crash out if Bayern Munich & Burnley can get something from their games against Leeds United.
Where with Bayern Munich & Burnley finish? Burnley have definitely got all of the momentum, but anything can happen as they both have tough games to play.
We caught up with Juventus manager to ask him about recent results, and the group as a whole with the potential of progressing to the knockout stages for the first time in the club's history:
"We're certainly having a campaign to remember. 3 wins from 4 is good at any level really and to be doing it against these lot at this level makes it even more special.
Leeds United are the current Premier League champions.
Bayern, while rebuilding, are and always are a threat.
Burnley go about their business quietly but are always right up there when the season comes to a close so we knew the group would be tough and it has been. The lads have just performed really well.
The win at Burnley was a perfect way to kick off the tournament and really set us up for this time in the group stage.
A set back in Munich wasn't really what we wanted, needed OR expected after the performance we put in against Burnley but we knew we had to bounce back in the next two games.
Back to back games against Leeds United would either make or break us.
A team who beat us twice last season on their way to the final 8 and we knew we couldn't allow that to happen again or we'd be out of the competition.
We firstly beat them at our place with the result never being in doubt and at that stage, 50% the way through the group stage, it was all to play for.
We then went to Leeds where they'd no doubt be seething at the thought of losing to us and be looking to make things right. We also knew the value of a potential draw away from home.
All of that only to lose to us AGAIN. Another 2-1 victory for us where the result was never in doubt and now we sit clear at the top of the group, with home games against 2nd & 3rd in our group.
We're by no stretch of the imagination through into the knockout stages but we've certainly given ourselves the best shot at doing so and by doing that we've put Tim Davey & Leeds United right in the shit, which makes it all that much better!"​