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On the two-month anniversary of Juventus Women hiring Isaac Guerrero as their new head coach, the Spanish tactician got his new-look squad past the final hurdle necessary to see them qualify for the Women\u2019s Champions League league phase once again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
For some, that was going to be quite the task with so much turnover this summer and Guerrero having little time to get to work with his new team before the qualification process got underway last month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But in front of the hometown crowd \u2014 and some very notable front office member from both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s sporting area \u2014 in Biella on Wednesday night, Guerrero\u2019s Bianconere got the result they needed, a 1-1 draw, against Austrian side St. P\u00f6lten to qualify for the UWCL league phase. Portuguese midfielder Tatiana Pinto scored Juventus Women\u2019s lone goal of the night five minutes before halftime, but it was the 3-0 victory last week in Austria that allowed the Bianconere to see out the game and claim the 4-1 advantage on aggregate in the final round of the qualification path.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
And with it came a ticket into the 16-team league phase \u2014 which is in effect for a second season after they made the switch to replicate the men\u2019s setup at the beginning of last season\u2019s competition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Juve got through the four-team mini tournament last month. They then got a much less complicated draw against St. P\u00f6lten as compared to two years ago when they had to go through a Paris Saint-Germain side that was one of the last teams standing the season prior to make the group stage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But, as Guerrero pointed out in his post-match press conference, this was his team\u2019s fourth game in the midst of a five-game stretch over the course of 17 days between Women\u2019s Champions League qualification and the group stage of the Serie A Women\u2019s Cup. Sunday\u2019s game against AC Milan will serve as the final game in that big early-season run of games as well as the Group C finale in the Serie A Women\u2019s Cup, with Juve currently atop the group.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t think about managing, but we wanted to win,\u201d Guerrero said after Wednesday\u2019s draw. \u201cThe girls have this spirit in their blood and they know that at this club you always have to win. The girls deserve this achievement. \u2026 (Qualifying for the UWCL league phase) was clearly our main goal for the season. These girls knew they couldn\u2019t fail to achieve this goal. It was very important for the club, and they managed to qualify and proved they were worthy of this jersey once again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The UWCL league phase draw will take place at 12 p.m. CEST on Friday in Nyon. Juve and Serie A Women champions Roma are in Pot 2, while Inter Milan \u2014 which upset German giants Wolfsburg to qualify for the league phase \u2014 are in Pot 3. It\u2019s the first time that three Italian teams have advanced to this final stage of the Women\u2019s Champions League.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n