Sporting – Juventus

Sporting CP hosts Juventus in a match from Group D of the UEFA Champions League.

Sporting are currently 3rd in the group with 3 points won so far, while Juventus are second with 6 points. The Portuguese team still have a chance to chase something more in this group, but if they want to do it, they have to win this match. If they can’t win one of the first two places in the group, they still can chase the 3rd spot and a qualification for Europa League.

The last game between Sporting and Juventus ended with a difficult 2-1 win for the Italian team. Juventus are now on 3 points behind the leader Barcelona, so they need to win if they want to chase the first place and the Catalans.

Of course, Sporting’s chances of reaching the knockout phase of the Champions League are just theoretical. It would be a huge surprise if Barcelona and Juventus don’t continue together to the 1/8-finals. So far Barca are favourites for the first place, because they won the first clash with Juve at the Camp Nou. And they have much, much better goal difference than the Old Lady.

This season started in a different way for Juventus in the Serie A. Max Allegri’s team is second in the standings, being on three points behind the current leader Napoli. This is not something Juve are used to in the last few years. Usually they dominate the league from the beginning to the end of the season. Now it looks like they will have a tougher competition than usual.

In the Portuguese Primeira Liga Sporting are currently second, being on just two points behind the leader Porto. The title race is still open for them, but so is the battle in the Champions League.