Young Boys’ first UEFA Champions League group stage campaign concludes with a visit from a Juventus side who need three points to make sure of finishing first in the section.
• While the Swiss side, who have picked up one point from their first five games, will finish fourth regardless of the result against the Italian champions, Juve are on 12 points, two more than second-placed Manchester United.
• Juventus are through and will finish top of Group H if they win or United do not gain victory away to Valencia, who will end third.
• The Bianconeri were 3-0 winners at home to Young Boys on matchday three, Paulo Dybala scoring a hat-trick.
Form guide
Young Boys
• The Swiss side’s sole point came from a 1-1 home draw with Valencia on matchday three; they were beaten 3-1 in Spain, and lost home (0-3) and away (0-1) to United.
• Young Boys were Swiss champions in 2017/18 – their 12th league title, but a first since 1986.
• Gerardo Seoane’s side overcame Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb to reach the group stage for the first time, following a 1-1 home draw with a 2-1 away success. Young Boys’ five previous UEFA Champions League campaigns all ended in qualifying, including in 2017/18 when they beat Dynamo Kyiv in the third qualifying round but lost to CSKA Moskva in the play-offs.
• The Berne side have won only two of their last 15 European games (D5 L8), beating Skënderbeu 2-1 on matchday six of last season’s UEFA Europa League in addition to the win in Zagreb. The fixture with the Albanian club was Young Boys’ last European engagement of 2017/18, as they finished third in their section.
• Young Boys have won only one of their last seven home matches in Europe (D3 L3), although they had recorded three victories in a row before that sequence.
• The Swiss club have won both their home games against Italian visitors. They beat Napoli 2-0 in the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League group stage – losing the away game 3-0 – and were 3-1 winners against Udinese in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League group stage, before a 3-2 away success.
• Young Boys reached the semi-finals of the 1958/59 European Champion Clubs’ Cup, losing 3-1 over two legs against Reims.
Juventus
• The Bianconeri kept clean sheets in winning their first three Group H games, triumphing at Valencia (2-0) and Manchester United (1-0) either side of their defeat of Young Boys. The English club scored two late goals in Italy to win 2-1 on matchday four, however, meaning Juve had to wait until a 1-0 home success against Valencia in their next fixture to confirm their round of 16 place.
• Juventus claimed their seventh successive Serie A title in 2017/18, and are in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the 19th time overall. They have not failed to reach the round of 16 since 2013/14 and have now reached the knockout phase for the 15th time.
• In last season’s UEFA Champions League, Juve finished second to Barcelona in their section before ousting Tottenham in the round of 16 (2-2 home, 2-1 away). Elimination beckoned when they went down 3-0 at home to Real Madrid in the quarter-final first leg – a repeat of the 2017 final, won 4-1 by the Spanish side – only for Juve to score three times in the return. Ronaldo, however, had the last word against his current club, converting a penalty deep into added time to end Juve’s campaign.
• Juventus kicked off their 2017/18 UEFA Champions League campaign with a 3-0 defeat at Barcelona but are unbeaten in six away games since, winning the last five. Two more would equal the UEFA Champions League record for successive away wins jointly held by Ajax and Bayern München.
• The Bianconeri’s last trip to Switzerland brought a 2-1 defeat at Basel in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League second group stage – the first time they had failed to beat Swiss opponents in their fourth encounter, having won the home game 4-0. The only other away game was a 4-2 second-leg success at Grasshoppers in the 1984/85 European Cup second round (6-2 aggregate).
• The Turin team have therefore scored 14 goals in their five fixtures against Swiss clubs, conceding four.
• Winners in 1985 and 1996, Juventus have played in nine European Cup finals – losing a record seven, including all of their last five.
Links and trivia
• Miralem Sulejmani scored against Juventus in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage, although the Bianconeri won 2-1 at Ajax. Sulejmani had better luck when Benfica beat Juventus 2-1 on aggregate in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League semi-final, providing an assist in the first leg.
• Steve von Bergen played in Italy for Cesena (2010–12), Genoa (2012) and Palermo (2012/13).
• Have played together:
Guillaume Hoarau & Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain 2011–13)
Steve von Bergen & Paulo Dybala (Palermo 2012/13)
Latest news
Young Boys
• Five days after the defeat in Manchester YB won 3-1 at Basel in the Super League. The Swiss champions have won their last five league games, and 14 of their 16 this season (D1 L1).*
• YB had started the new season with nine wins from as many Super League matches to take an early grip on the top of the table before losing 3-2 at home against Luzern on 6 October and then drawing 3-3 at Zürich in their next fixture.
• Young Boys’ 18-point lead after 16 matches is the largest gap at this stage of the season since Switzerland introduced a ten-team league in summer 2003.*
• The Berne club’s 50 league goals this season have been scored by 11 different players.*
• Guillaume Hoarau, who has scored six goals in his last eight appearances, has been out since 24 November with an ankle injury.*
• Steve von Bergen (foot) and Djibril Sow (abdominal muscle) have not played since matchday five.*
• Gregory Wüthrich, who had been out since mid-September with an adductors injury, damaged a thigh in training on 24 October and faces another spell on the sidelines.*
• Jordan Lotomba (knee) is yet to play this season.*
Juventus
• Juventus have won 17of their 19 games in all competitions this season, losing only to Manchester United on matchday five.*
• Juve’s tally of 40 points is the highest ever in Serie A after 14 games.*
• The Turin team’s ten-game winning start to the season was ended by a 1-1 home draw against Genoa on 20 October, the only Serie A game they have failed to win since 13 May.*
• The Genoa draw is the only time Juve have failed to score two goals or more in Serie A this season.*
• Juve have lost only once in their last 39 Serie A matches, winning 33.*
• Juve have won their last five UEFA Champions League away games and all seven away Serie A matches this season. The Bianconeri have not lost an away game in Serie A since a 3-2 reverse at Sampdoria on 19 November 2017.
• Cristiano Ronaldo has ten goals and five assists in his last 11 Serie A appearances. The Portuguese is the first Juve player to reach ten goals in his first 14 Serie A games since John Charles in 1957.*
• Giorgio Chiellini scored in a 3-0 win at Fiorentina on 1 December, his first Serie A goal since his double against Sampdoria on 27 October 2016.
• Andrea Barzagli is expected to be out until the new year having suffered a thigh injury in training.
• Alex Sandro (thigh) has not played since matchday five.*
• Federico Bernardeschi withdrew from the Italy squad for November’s internationals after suffering a thigh injury in training, returning as a late substitute at Fiorentina.
• Emre Can is sidelined by a thyroid problem that required surgical treatment.*
• Sami Khedira was out between matchday one and matchday four with a thigh injury and subsequently twisted his left ankle in training.*
• Full-back Leonardo Spianazzola was not included in the UEFA Champions League squad as he is recovering from knee surgery.*
• Medhi Benatia has been named on a five-man shortlist for the BBC African Footballer of the Year award.
• Ronaldo’s overhead kick for Real Madrid against his current club Juventus in last season’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg was voted UEFA.com Goal of the Season.
• Ronaldo finished second to former team-mate Luka Modrić in the Ballon d’Or.
• On 3 December Juventus were voted Italy’s Team of 2017/18 at the Gran Gala del Calcio, organised by the Association of Italian Footballers. Allegri was named best coach while João Cancelo, Chiellini, Alex Sandro, Miralem Pjanić and Paulo Dybala were all selected in the team of the season.
*Subject to weekend updates
Be the first to comment