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The business end of the group stages is upon us on Paramount+. Five teams — Bayern Munich, Red Bull Salzburg, Juventus, Liverpool and Ajax — can qualify for the round of 16 this week while a host of other sides are fighting just to stay in the competition. Here’s what to keep an eye out for.
Juventus vs. Zenit: Claudinho ends Juve win streak
In what is threatening to be a meltdown season for Massimiliano Allegri and Juventus, the Champions League is the great lead box that, for now, is keeping its inhabitants safe. Three games have brought three wins but we should start with some swift caveats. Malmo may just be the worst team in the competition while the Chelsea victory stands out for all the wrong reasons. It was one of the precious few games where they looked like the defensive force of old, serving to juxtapose just how leaky they’ve been at the back the rest of this season.
Meanwhile, in Serie A they have lost as many games as they have won and have conceded as many goals as they have scored, although they have 3.3 more expected goals (xG) scored than conceded in their ledger. A team that is losing to the likes of Verona, Sassuolo and Empoli has to expect their travails to bleed into the European game eventually. Why not against a Zenit side that has given as good as they have got through three games so far? Both Chelsea and Juventus had almighty problems getting three points against the Russian champions. And since Zenit’s defeat to the latter they have proceeded to smash seven past Spartak Moscow and four against Dinamo Moscow.
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If there is to be a player that will give Juventus particular trouble it may well be Claudinho, the Brazilian who has adapted swiftly to…
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Source : cbssports
