It was nearly a year ago when Juventus and Benfica met on the final day of the new-look Champions League league phase, with a whole lot of people having one screen fixed on the game in front of them and another on the live table with everybody playing at the same time. Juve needed a win to get a much more favorable draw in the play-off round \u2014 which, as we all remember, didn\u2019t happen and the European run came to an end shortly therafter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
While Wednesday night doesn\u2019t mark the end of the league phase just yet, a familiar foe is coming back to Turin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The penultimate fixture for Juventus of the UCL league phase sees Benfica and old \u201cfriend\u201d Jose Mourinho roll into Turin with the Bianconeri on the cusp of potentially wrapping up a spot in the knockout phase. Sitting on nine point through their first six league phase fixtures, Juventus need to win one of their matchups against Benfica on Wednesday night or on the road against Monaco next week to sit in a good place when it comes to qualification for the play-off round.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
If 11 points was the target for clubs at the bottom of the top 24 last season, then one more win would put Luciano Spalletti\u2019s squad on 12 points. And if that win to put Juve on 12 points comes against Benfica, then it will make the final matchday of the league phase in the Principality just that much more interesting with how tightly packed things were entering this week\u2019s action outside of the top couple of teams.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Sure makes for a likely tense situation at the J Stadium considering the last thing Spalletti wants to see happen is leaving qualification for the play-off round to the final day of the league phase.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Then again, Juve are facing a Benfica that are very much right on the outside looking in of the top 24.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
With two straight wins, Benfica somehow actually has a chance to sneak into the play-off round. They\u2019re no longer sitting close to the bottom of the league phase table. Instead, they enter Matchday 7 right outside of the top 24 \u2014 and as we know, things can change wildly fluctuate over these final two weeks before the play-off round draw arrives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Domestically, are unbeaten in Liga Portugal this season, with their only losses coming in cup competitions. Since the start of December, Benfica have won four of six league fixtures, with their only two losses over that span coming in the Ta\u00e7a de Portugal quarterfinals against Porto and the Ta\u00e7a da Liga (Portuguese League Cup) against Braga.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Then again, it\u2019s not like Juventus are coming off the best of results (or performances) over the weekend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Saturday night\u2019s loss to Cagliari was the kind of result and performance that Juventus certainly need to avoid repeating against Benfica and\/or Monaco. They do that and they\u2019re likely wrapping up their spot in the play-off round sooner rather than later. But Benfica, even with their struggles earlier on in the league phase that then saw Mourinho return to managing in Portugal, have taken advantage of their own European schedule getting a little more friendly just as Juventus have, beating Ajax and then stunning Napoli to get out of the Champions League cellar. They know that another loss could very well put a big dent in their remaining hopes to sneak into the play-off round, thus causing them to be even more on the front foot than Spalletti said he expects them to be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Benfica also have a bit of history on their side against the Bianconeri, winning all of their last three meetings with Juventus in Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI expect to see the same things I see every day, they enjoy developing in training and I enjoy watching them,\u201d Spalletti said during Tuesday\u2019s pre-match press conference. \u201cPortuguese teams are all quite similar, Sporting has something similar to Benfica and if you don\u2019t make the right decisions, you risk being trapped and the game will resemble the one against Sporting. \u2026 We are strong and we have a precise idea of how to play the game. The spotlight is more intense in Champions League matches and we hope to be worthy of that spotlight.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Juventus have been able to turn their Champions League campaign around with wins over Bod\u00f8\/Glimt \u2014 you know, the team that just crushed Manchester City in the frigid Arctic Circle \u2014 and Pafos within a couple of weeks of each other. Now, it\u2019s about getting a win that both puts them in the knockout round and then gets them a much better potential draw then what happened last season under Thiago Motta. If Juve continue to hang around the low teens and 20s in the standings, then it won\u2019t be looking so good. But if they can close the UCL league phase in strong fashion, then it\u2019s certainly possible they might even push the top eight because Matchday 7 started with just four points separating third place and 20th.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWe are on the right track because the team is curious and constantly looking for new ideas,\u201d Spalletti said. \u201cI always say that you have to improve your skills to score goals, to have the next pass already in mind before you receive the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
For a team that just got shut out by one of the statistically worst teams in Serie A just over the weekend, Juventus will have to be a lot better to ensure that they come away with three points on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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- During his pre-match press conference, Spalletti didn\u2019t give too many hints \u2014 or any \u2014 when it came to any potential changes to his starting lineup when Juve face Benfica.<\/span><\/li>\n
- There also weren\u2019t many fitness updates regarding specific players, so it\u2019s likely that the same players who were available over the weekend against Cagliari will be the same when Spalletti names his squad to face Benfica come Wednesday morning.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The small group of players out due to injury for Juventus includes: Dusan Vlahovic, Daniele Rugani and Arek Milik, who is not on the Bianconeri\u2019s squad list for the league phase.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Spalletti did say in an interview with Sky Italia<\/a> that he and the rest of the Juventus coaching staff will have to be careful with Francisco Concei\u00e7\u00e3o and his minutes so that he doesn\u2019t have a relapse of the muscle injury that caused him to miss a couple of weeks earlier this month.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Juventus have not won three straight games in the Champions League since 2021.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Mourinho has won just one of his last six away fixtures against Juventus, with that lone win coming during his time with Manchester United in 2018.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
\nA Portuguese squad is coming to Turin. Juventus just so happen to have a Portuguese player on the roster, and he could very well be returning to the starting lineup on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nSo do you follow where I\u2019m going? Of course you do.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nTURIN, ITALY – JANUARY 3: Francisco Conceicao of Juventus FC looks on during the Serie A match between Juventus FC and US Lecce at Allianz Stadium on January 3, 2026 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Alberto Gandolfo\/BSR Agency\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \nIt still remains to be seen whether Concei\u00e7\u00e3o will actually be in the starting lineup considering what Spalletti had to say about his desire to not push him physically at the moment and just the simple fact that Fabio Miretti has been very good over the last few weeks while the diminutive Portuguese winger was out injured.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nBut if Concei\u00e7\u00e3o does end up coming back into the squad from the opening whistle, it\u2019s pretty safe to say that Juventus will need the good version of him if they want to have a good chance of actually beating Benfica for the first time in a few years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nJuventus come out of the Cagliari game with the same issues that we\u2019ve harped on for a lot of the 2025-26 season: the chance creation was there, but ultimately they couldn\u2019t convert the chances that they did have. (And it\u2019s not like the overall quality of those chances were consistently great to begin with \u2026)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nConcei\u00e7\u00e3o, when on, can be the compliment to Kenan Yildiz\u2019s incredible playmaking ability that Juventus desperately need. For as well as Miretti has played of late, Concei\u00e7\u00e3o is just a completely different kind of player \u2014 and that\u2019s not breaking news by any means.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nSo no matter if he\u2019s in the starting lineup or an impact sub off the bench in the second half, Juventus need Concei\u00e7\u00e3o to be Concei\u00e7\u00e3o. You know, the one where he can make opposing defenses look silly whenever he\u2019s got the ball at his feet. That one should come back more often. Surely Spalletti would like that \u2014 as would all of us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nWhen: <\/strong>Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nWhere:<\/strong> Juventus Stadium, Turin, Italy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nOfficial kickoff time:<\/strong> 9 p.m. local time in Italy and across Europe, 8 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 3 p.m. Eastern time, 2 p.m. Central time, 12 p.m. Pacific time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nTelevision:<\/strong> TNT Sports 5 (United Kingdom).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nOnline\/Streaming:<\/strong> Paramount+<\/strong><\/a> (United States); DAZN Canada; fuboTV Canada (Canada); Amazon Prime Video (United Kingdom); Amazon Prime Video (Italy).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nOther live viewing options can be found here<\/strong><\/a>, and as always, you can also follow along with us live and all the stupid things we say on Bluesky<\/strong><\/a>. If you haven\u2019t already, join the community<\/strong><\/a> on Black & White & Read All Over, and join in the discussion below.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
- There also weren\u2019t many fitness updates regarding specific players, so it\u2019s likely that the same players who were available over the weekend against Cagliari will be the same when Spalletti names his squad to face Benfica come Wednesday morning.<\/span><\/li>\n