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Juventus will enter the final weekend of the 2024-25 season with their Champions League destiny very much in their hands. I know this sounds like it could end in a massive amount of disappointment next week \u2014 and it very well might knowing this team! \u2014 but it\u2019s much better than the alternative.<\/p>\n
And that, my friends, is pretty much all we can ask for at this point.<\/p>\n
Juventus, coming off a pair of draws in which they could have taken complete control of the race for fourth place, got the three points they desperately needed Sunday night. Thanks to second-half goals from Nico Gonz\u00e1lez and Dusan Vlahovic \u2014 his first in a black and white jersey since Feb. 23 \u2014 Juventus claimed an important yet completely unspectacular 2-0 win over Udinese in their home finale at Allianz Stadium to keep ahold of fourth place entering Matchday 38. With Roma beating 10-man Milan 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico and Lazio holding Inter Milan to a 2-2 draw, Juventus will head into the final game of the season with a one-point advantage over Claudio Ranieri\u2019s squad with light blue side of Rome lurking two points behind the Bianconeri.<\/p>\n
So, just like this weekend, the ball is in Juve\u2019s court.<\/p>\n
But instead of playing a mid-table Udinese side that really has nothing to play for in the standings after securing safety weeks ago, the opposition to finish out the season will be a Venezia side that will have to win to avoid being relegated to Serie B.<\/p>\n
Oh, and it\u2019s on Venezia\u2019s home turf, too.<\/p>\n
You think the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo isn\u2019t going to be completely ratcheted up to 11 next weekend? It absolutely will be \u2014 and then some! And Juventus will be a team that is still shorthanded but also thankfully welcoming back one of their best players who was suspended against Udinese.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, unlike last weekend, we can say Juventus took care of their business. There was no late lead being blow and adding to the tally of 23 points from a leading position getting thrown away. There was no red card to an important player at the back, either. It was far from pretty or anything really resembling that, but Juve got the three points they needed to not only stay in fourth place but take advantage of the team they were tied on 64 points entering the day failing to beat the reigning champions.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t look that way for much of the day, though. Juventus\u2019 first half was one marred with ineffectiveness in front of goal despite having nearly three-quarters of the possession, attempting 16 shots and nearly hitting double digits in corner kicks. There were still the same mistakes that we\u2019ve seen from this team throughout the season. Only three of those 16 shots were actually on target, with the final one of those right before halftime hitting the upright after Gonz\u00e1lez tried to sneak one in at the near post.<\/p>\n
The crowd at the Allianz Stadium had every right to feel more than just a little nervous. Because that\u2019s what this season has conditioned us to no matter who the manager has been. You don\u2019t want to get your hopes up too much because the crash down is only greater.<\/p>\n
But when Gonz\u00e1lez found the back of the net just after the hour mark after he forced a turnover in the Udinese box and Kenan Yildiz jumped on the loose ball, you could feel at least some of that anxiety leave the building. Not tally, of course, because Juventus holding a lead this season has been such a delicate affair, but a lead in a game that you had to win was something that had eluded Igor Tudor\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n
Udinese weren\u2019t doing anything all that impressive, either. They just put numbers behind the ball, dared Juventus to break them down and handled the pressure that they were under fairly well. Even with all of those shots attempts in the first half, it\u2019s not like you got the feeling it was just a matter of time before Juve scored. It was more about what Juve weren\u2019t doing rather than the Udinese goal being under siege.<\/p>\n
It changed for the better as the second half went on. And once Gonz\u00e1lez put Juventus in front, there thankfully weren\u2019t many instances of them actually looking like they were going to blow that lead.<\/p>\n
At this point and with how patchwork Juve\u2019s defense is, that feels like pretty much all you can ask for.<\/p>\n
So now we head into the final weekend of the season with Juventus needing a win against a team that\u2019s second from the bottom to clinch a spot in the Champions League. It\u2019s that simple even though you know it won\u2019t be simple at all. That\u2019s just how this season has been, and it makes no sense to think it will go any other way in the final 90 minutes.<\/p>\n
It sure would be nice to not pay so much attention to the live table next week. I can say that with all of my heart. But I have a feeling I\u2019ll be sweating it just as much as I was this week. I know better than that.<\/p>\n