After earning a solitary victory in their four European outings, Juventus now find themselves in a deep hole and about to say goodbye to the Champions League.
While Benfica and PSG are joint group leaders with 8 points, the Bianconeri are embarrassingly on par with Maccabi Haifa on 3 points.
Tonight, Max Allegri’s men will take on the Portuguese giants in Lisbon as they try to keep their slim hopes alive.
So what does the old lady have to do to reach the round of 16 and avoid an unwanted Europa League spot (or worse)?
Well, the Italians must win their remaining two games to start. Anything less than wins against Benfica tonight and PSG next week will automatically end their hopes.
If he adds six points in his next two games, Juventus will raise his tally to 9 points. But will it be enough?
Unlikely…
Allegri’s team will need a favor from Maccabi. They will have to trust the Israelis to derail PSG tonight or Benfica next week.
If the French or the Portuguese lose to Maccabi, then their tally would be frozen at 8 points, opening the door for Juventus to move up to a qualifying spot.
But if one of the two draws against Haifa, their final tally would be 9 points (same as Juve’s projected tally).
In this case, we would use head-to-head and then goal difference to decide who has the advantage.
These are the parameters applied as reported by JuventusNews24.
goal difference in direct matches
greatest number of goals scored in direct confrontations
highest number of goals scored away from home in direct matches
total goal difference
highest number of goals overall
highest number of away goals overall
highest number of group wins
highest number of away wins in the group
conduct, lowest disciplinary score based on cards
UEFA coefficient
