Italy vs England yet again: Juventus take on Chelsea in the next round of the Champions League

Italy and England have a long-standing rivalry. While there have been instances where the two nations have been on different sides of certain world conflicts, instead we are going to focus on the sporting rivalry that exists between the two sides, and in particular in the world of soccer.

The most recent and famous example of the two nations meeting came this summer, the final of Euro 2020. Italy was the favourites going into the game, but England had played well in the tournament and was playing the game at their home ground, Wembley Stadium. Luke Shaw scored early on to give the advantage to Gareth Southgate’s men, but the Italians clawed a goal back and would go on to win the final on penalties. 

This isn’t the first time an Italian side has beaten England in a penalty shootout at a European Championship. Back in 2012, the two sides met at the quarter-final stage. A dour 0-0 draw meant the game would be decided by a penalty shootout, and Andrea Pirlo scored a beautiful Panenka inspired penalty to help the Italians go through to the semi-finals.

While in international fixtures the Italians certainly have had the best of things in recent meetings, in domestic football it has been quite different. The most famous recent meeting between an Italian and English side came in the 2005 Champions League final, where AC Milan faced off against Liverpool. 

On paper, the Milan side was much the stronger team, with many world-class players such as Maldini, Seedorf, Kaka, Crespo and Shevchenko, to name just a few. Whereas Liverpool had Steven Gerrard… and 10 other men. Milan was 3-0 up at halftime, but amazingly Rafa Benitez’s side got scored three times to level things up. With the game all level at extra time, another penalty shootout ensued. This time, the English side came out on top, with Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek the hero as he saved two efforts.

The two sides were drawn together in this years’ Champions League group stage, with Liverpool just about edging the game 3-2. They aren’t the only Italian and English sides drawn together, as in group H we have Juventus and Chelsea. The two sides face off in Turin on the next matchday of the tournament, and fans will be searching the best sports betting sites to find all the latest odds on this game. To try to find out how this game might go, let’s look at the form of each side so far this season.

Strong starts by Chelsea, mixed for Juventus

Chelsea has begun the season very well indeed, with five wins out of six in the Premier League. They sit right at the top of the Premier League table, just above Liverpool purely in alphabetical order. They are considered by many to be the favourites for the Premier League title, as they certainly have improved not only their squad but their manager too in the last 12 months. Let’s not forget they are also the defending Champions League champions, having won the final 1-0 in June against Manchester City. They will do everything they can to make it all the way to this year’s competition too.

Juventus on the other hand has not had the greatest of starts in their campaign. Given they only finished fourth last year, after winning nine consecutive titles before that, you’d have thought they’d be giving it everything to get back to the top of the table this year. In the first five games, they have only managed one win. They have drawn two, and lost two, against Napoli and Empoli. Given that Cristiano Ronaldo left over the summer, it was always anticipated that they might struggle, but no one would have imagined things would go this badly.

A win apiece to start the group stage

In the first game of the Champions League, Chelsea welcomed Zenit St. Petersburg, while Juventus travelled to Malmö. The English side struggled to get going but eventually found a goal through talisman Romeu Lukaku to claim a 1-0 victory. In Turin, Juventus put their domestic difficulties to one side, easing into a 3-0 victory to put them at the top of the group

What will be the outcome of this match?

Chelsea certainly appears to be in better form than their Italian counterparts, having not lost a single game yet this season. Their squad is certainly stronger on paper, but of course, no game is ever won before a ball has been kicked.

The Italian side will be playing at home in front of their fans, so the atmosphere could be an intimidating one to Thomas Tuchel and his players. It really is almost too close to call. Thankfully, there isn’t too long to wait until this game kicks off, and we can enjoy the action.