Champions League Preview: Club Brugge vs. Juventus
Yesterday at 12:30 AM
The Champions League's new league phase has us paying attention to a European table longer than we ever have before. So now let's see what Juve can do in their first UCL fixture of 2025.
For what feels like the first time in a long time when writing these previews, Juventus are coming off a win and a quality performance. At long last, there's a chance for a little bit of optimism because Juventus not only played well, but did it in a big game and against a direct rival for a top-four spot in Serie A.
But now, for the first time in 2025, the focus shifts over to the Champions League.
And with it comes two very important talking points that will be hammered over the course of these coming hours before Juventus kick things off in Belgium.
- Can they keep the good times from last week against Atalanta and especially AC Milan going?
- Can they continue to work their way up the league phase table following the win over Manchester City last month?
Tuesday night will see Juve head out on the road for the final time in this new Champions League league phase. The opposition was viewed as maybe a relatively simple matchup come the time of the league phase draw, but Club Brugge sit all of five places and one point behind Juventus in the UCL table, with Thiago Motta's squad very much trying to solidify one of the higher-placed spot in the playoff round positions. So as much as Juve could very much jump into the top eight if many things fall in their favor during Matchday 7, there's also plenty of traffic in front of them — including the two teams they just played in Serie A over the course of the last week — to likely prevent that from happening.
No matter the league phase table positioning is — and for Juventus it's 14th place behind Atalanta and Milan — the biggest thing for Motta is to keep the good times going after what we saw this past weekend. The team felt like they had been building to a moment like that even though the results weren't completely showing it. But with the talk of all those damn draws at least quelled for a few days, now the ability to follow up the big showing against Milan comes to the fore.
And it's not like Club Brugge will be some kind of pushover, either.
They're a team that sits just above reigning champions Real Madrid in the league table and have recorded wins over Sporting as well as Aston Villa, the latter being something that Juventus can't say they've done during the league phase. They're sitting second in the Belgian Pro League table and have gone 13 straight games without a loss domestically, with 10 of those being wins.
In short, they're playing well and are coming off a three-game stretch in the league in which they've scored 11 goals. Not exactly something to take lightly.
Club Brugge were never that of an easy out when the draw was released. (Remember, they were in Pot 2 just like Juventus.) And their form for much of the 2024-25 season has confirmed just that.
But for the first time in a month, Juventus are actually coming off a win. And not just a win, but a performance that is certainly up there as one of the best of the Motta era. They'll be facing a team that likes to both possess the ball as well as pepper the opposing goal with shots, leading the Belgian Pro League in both of those categories. How Motta approaches things — especially when it comes to replicating the same kind of game plan as he used over the weekend against Milan — will obviously go a long way in the chances of taking home three points for the second straight European outing.
If Juventus can do that, then another jump up the league phase table will likely be in order. It would also further the notion that maybe, just maybe, Juve are starting to turn a bit of a corner after so many draws.
TEAM NEWS
- Coming out of the weekend, there was a good amount of concern that both Kenan Yildiz and Weston McKennie would both miss the trip to Belgium due to muscle fatigue. However, both players were included in the traveling squad and will be available to play, although it's still unsure if either of them will be in Motta's starting lineup.
- Another piece of good injury news: Francisco Conceição, who has been out since suffering a pre-game muscle strain ahead of the Supercoppa semifinals, is back in the squad as well. He will likely be an option off the bench for Motta against Club Brugge.
- Juventus' lone January signing to date, fullback Alberto Costa, is not part of the traveling squad because he is unable to be added to the league phase roster.
- There was a positive sighting during training at Continassa on Monday: Randal Kolo Muani, whose loan move to Turin has been delayed due to Paris Saint-Germain not knowing certain rules, was working out with his soon-to-be teammates before they left for Belgium. Kolo Muani is expected to officially sign with Juventus on Wednesday or Thursday.
- Motta hinted at his pre-match press conference that Dusan Vlahovic could start on the bench for the second straight game, with Nico Gonzalez starting up front in the 4-2-3-1.
- Many predicted lineups in the Italian media has Douglas Luiz getting a starting spot alongside Khephren Thuram in Juventus' double pivot, giving Manuel Locatelli a bit of a respite following a stellar performance in the Milan win and ahead of the trip to Naples.
JUVENTUS PLAYER TO WATCH
The young Belgian boy heads back to his home country for the first time as a member of Juventus' senior squad, playing against the same club in which his youth career began back in 2014.
This seems like the easy narrative to go with — especially with how he's playing of late.
As much as his unpredicted big burst onto the scene to begin the 2024-25 season was impressive, is it safe to say that this is the best run of form that Samuel Mbangula has had since being promoted from the Next Gen setup?
Yeah, I think so.
The goal against Milan is the obvious highlight of it, but Mbangula really has come back into form after a relatively quiet fall and early winter. He's not only playing well, but also playing with a whole lot more confidence than he was a few months ago. It's pretty clear to see, and obviously incredibly important for a young player to have that faith in himself that he can get it done at this level.
But this is something that Mbangula has yet to do in his young career. And playing in the same country where he was born, against the club that brought him in a decade ago even before he was a teenager, that's got both sentimental emotion as well as the chance for something truly special for him to potentially happen.
With Yildiz likely starting from the bench and Conceição just back from injury, it's pretty safe to assume that Mbangula will be in the starting lineup once again Tuesday night. A lot like Juventus as a whole, it sounds like the chance to pick up right where he left off from the weekend.
MATCH INFO
When: Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025.
Where: Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges, Belgium.
Official kickoff time: 9 p.m. in Italy and the Central European time zone, 8 p.m. in the United Kingdom,3 p.m. Eastern time, 12 p.m. Pacific time.
HOW TO WATCH
Television: TNT Sports 4 (United Kingdom); Sky Sports 252 (Italy).
Online/Streaming:Paramount+ (United States); DAZN Canada (Canada); Amazon Prime Video (United Kingdom); Sky Go Italia, NOW TV (Italy).
Other live viewing options can be found here, and as always, you can also follow along with us live and all the stupid things we say on Twitter. If you haven't already, join the community on Black & White & Read All Over, and join in the discussion below.
