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One of the biggest themes of this 2024-25 season for Juventus has involved the inability to keep a lead. By now, the amount of points Juventus have lost from a winning position has become common knowledge, with that 17-point total pretty much one of the first things those who announce Juve games quote whenever the opportunity presents itself.<\/p>\n
And it certainly has happened a lot.<\/p>\n
So now, after months of instances in which Juve haven\u2019t been able to hold a lead, here comes a new twist on that situation: keeping an aggregate lead.<\/p>\n
Juventus head to the Netherlands with one thing and one thing only in mind: don\u2019t lose. It\u2019s a mindset that could get you in plenty of trouble if you don\u2019t approach it right, and something that we\u2019ve seen Juve struggle with from time to time during recent European adventures. But, this team is very much one that has not been in this kind of situation before as they are currently constructed \u2014 which means we\u2019re going to see if the same struggles they\u2019ve had after going ahead in a game can be applied to a two-legged European tie for the first time this season.<\/p>\n
Juve have a 2-1 advantage over the reigning Dutch champions thanks to their win last Tuesday night in Turin, with Samuel Mbangula\u2019s late game-winner allowing Thiago Motta\u2019s squad to get their first in Europe since mid-December. It\u2019s thanks to that slim lead on aggregate rather than yet another draw to add to the lengthy list of them domestically and in the Champions League that means Juve don\u2019t necessarily need to win against PSV on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Instead, anything but a loss will put Juve through to the UCL Round of 16 where they would meet either Arsenal or Inter \u2014 which, considering what just happened this past weekend, probably feels like a little bit more likely.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s a 3-3 draw, a 1-0 win over something that has Juve scoring more or just as many goals as PSV. Juventus just can\u2019t afford to lose or else they will see their lead after the first leg go up in smoke and become the third in as many Serie A clubs to be ousted in the play-off round.<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s the Juve that we saw in the second half against Inter on Sunday night, then there\u2019s a pretty good chance of Thiago Motta\u2019s squad advancing. But if it\u2019s a version of Juventus like we saw in the first half against that same Inter side, then PSV are going to very much be in this thing and potentially seeing that 2-1 aggregate deficit flipped in their favor.<\/p>\n
PSV\u2019s return to domestic competition this past weekend looked a lot like their recent results \u2014 not winning. The reigning Dutch champions enter Wednesday night\u2019s game against Juventus with just one win in their last five, with a stoppage-time equalizer needed to record a 2-2 draw against FC Utrecht on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
In the league phase, PSV won three of their four home fixtures, including a 3-2 victory on Matchday 8 over current Premier League leaders Liverpool \u2014 which was heavily rotated with the top spot in the 32-team table already locked up.<\/p>\n
To combat PSV\u2019s homefield advantage at the Philips Stadion, Motta will be hoping for more of the same results-wise from his team that he saw in the league phase. Juventus didn\u2019t lose any of their four games away from home, but the catch with that statement is that three of those results were draws against Lille, Aston Villa and Club Brugge. (Yes, the same Club Brugge that just bounced Atalanta from the play-off round. So what\u2019s it like to lose to Club Brugge? Who knows, couldn\u2019t tell you as a Juventus fan.)<\/p>\n
So what will give here? Can Juventus avoid what happened to AC Milan and Atalanta 24 hours earlier and actually advance to the Champions League Round of 16?<\/p>\n
Considering Juventus have their first winning streak of more than just a couple of games this season, you have to think that the confidence level of the squad is in a different place compared to when the draws were happening and looked like they were never going to end. And heading to the Netherlands with a lead \u2014 albeit a slim one-goal variety \u2014 is certainly much different situation as compared as an alternative if Mbangula or Weston Mckennie not scored seven days ago.<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s goes nothin\u2019, folks. Here is one of the biggest tests for Juventus \u2014 or, as Motta said during his pre-match press conference, \u201cthe biggest game of the season so far\u201d \u2014 to see if they can actually hold a lead. It\u2019s on aggregate, sure, but the same worries based on what we\u2019ve seen for much of the 2024-25 season still apply.<\/p>\n