Champions League: Is Real Madrid and Juventus Second Place Bound?

There were many surprises on match day four of the Uefa Champions League with Real Madrid and Juventus playing out draws in their respective games against Legia Warsaw and Olympique Lyonnais respectively. Massimiliano Allegri and Zinedine Zidane both have their teams at the top of their domestic leagues but their performance in the Uefa Champions league has been sub-par. How do the teams fare heading into the International break after the weekend and how do they get their places on the top spot of their respective groups?

Juventus won against Napoli at the weekend and everything seemed right before the disappointing draw against Lyon on Wednesday.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri has a great squad depth that gives him the space to rotate his players by playing youth in the Italian Serie A and fielding the old and experienced in the Champions League. This is something that has worked in Serie A but has proved detrimental to the team on the international front because the pedigree of teams playing in the Champions league cannot be matched to the other teams playing in the Italian league.

Allegri should revert from this stance of trying to give every member of the squad a chance to have some playing time and get a certified starting XI that plays in the UEFA Champions league and the Italian Serie A, something that has helped FC Barcelona massively during their trophy-laden years.

Zinedine Zidane has won the UEFA Champions league as a player and as a coach but he knows all too well that it is difficult retaining the trophy. Real Madrid blew a two-goal lead to earn a 3-3 draw at Poland on Wednesday – something which was not predicted by the bookmakers. In matches against Sporting CP at the Bernabeu and away at Dortmund their performances did not match the Real Madrid football fans have known in recent seasons. Real Madrid has not lost a single game this season but draws are gradually becoming a part of the team’s acumen and this is something Zidane should acknowledge and re-strategize in order to get one over Dortmund on match day five and head to the top of the table to avoid a difficult opposition in the Round of 16.

Real Madrid and Juventus Must Top Respective Groups Too Far In the Champions League

Real Madrid’s inconsistent performances stems out of Cristiano Ronaldo’s lack of goals this season.

Ronaldo was supposed to have scored at most four goals against Legia Warsaw in the two games but he managed zero, something that he is not used to as he normally enjoyed using low-class teams to extend his lead in the goalscoring charts but this time round things have not gone as expected for the all-time Real Madrid goalscorer.

Losing or drawing against Borussia Dortmund seems all but over for Madrid in topping the table as this would place them in a position of facing the likes of Arsenal, Bayern Munich amongst others which might not help see the bigger teams heading into the tail-end of the competition.

Juventus and Massimiliano Allegri has it all-to-do in their game away to Sevilla on matchday five after blowing a one goal lead and earning a draw perhaps being spared by Lacazette in the dying embers of the game.

Allegri should find a starting XI for both competitions and the team would rise high and challenge the status quo of European football because among all things Juventus is the face of the Italian Serie A after the demise of the two Milan clubs.

Real Madrid and Juventus are two of Europe’s elite teams and would need to do more heading forward to stay in the biggest club competition in the world.

Juventus play on the road to Chievo on November 6 at 7:00AM PST whiles Real Madrid hosts Leganes at the Santiago Bernabeu on November 6 at 4:00AM PST.