March is going to be a momentous month for the Juventus Women’s team. For the first time ever, they’ll be playing in the quarter finals of the Women’s Champions League. Can they possibly beat Lyon to reach the last four – check the latest odds by the legal US sportsbooks?
The past few seasons have been successful ones for Juventus. It’s often the case that home success comes first and in time the results will come in European competitions. That’s what has happened to Juventus who have won the Women’s Serie A titles in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons.
It’s not been an easy introduction to the Women’s Champions League though. They first took part in the 2018/19 season and lost to Brondby in the last 32. The following season again saw them beaten in the last 32, losing both legs to current champions Barcelona.
2020/21 was when Juventus began to show real signs of what they could achieve. The last 32 presented them with a tough tie against Lyon who were the reigning champions. Juventus led the home first leg 2-1 but eventually lost 3-2 and were beaten 3-0 in France. Juventus had played six Women’s Champions League games and lost five of them. But there had been tough opposition for them.
This season has seen the format change. Mini tournaments were first held, then a second round, with the winners going into the newly created group stages. Juventus hosted one of the mini tournaments and began with a 12-0 hammering of Kamenica Sasa from Macedonia. Seven players scored, with Arianna Caruso hitting a hat-trick.
A 4-1 win over St Polten (two goals from Barbora Bonansea) took Juventus into the second round. Albanian side Vilaznia were beaten and that took Juventus into the group stages.
Now life suddenly became a lot more difficult. The odds were on Wolfsburg and Chelsea qualifying with Juventus battling it out for third spot with Servette. The Swiss side were beaten 3-0 in the opening group fixture and with Chelsea drawing with Wolfsburg, Juventus found themselves top of the group.
Then came games against the two favourites and they didn’t go well. A 2-1 home loss to Chelsea was followed by a 2-2 draw in Turin with Wolfsburg. That was nearly a second straight loss, but Cristiana Girelle equalized in the dying moments.
One point from those two games put a ton of pressure on Juventus for the trip to Wolfsburg. However, they put in their best performance in the Women’s Champions League with a 2-0 away victory.
With two games remaining, Chelsea topped the group, three clear of Juventus, with Wolfsburg two points behind in third. An away draw with Chelsea, while Juventus beat Servette in Switzerland left us with a fascinating final matchday.
Juventus had the easier task with a comfortable 4-0 win over Servette. Meanwhile in Germany, Wolfsburg were busy beating Chelsea 4-0. Juventus, Wolfsburg and Chelsea all ended on 11 points, but it was the English side who ended up in third and out of the competition.
The Italian side were celebrating as they finished second. For the first time in their history, they’ve made the last eight. A tough battle lies ahead though as they have been drawn against Lyon, who have won the Women’s Champions League for five of the past six seasons. Can Juventus cause another surprise? Only time will tell.
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