Time to welcome back the Champions League! Jan Breydel awaits for Juventus on Match Day 7.
The fixture
The win against Beerschot over the weekend has helped Club towards a run of 18 unbeaten games; in the top 15 leagues in Europe, only Galatasaray (Tur) and Lille (Fra) are doing better. If Club manages to score on Tuesday, it will do so for the 25th game running. A win for Club would be a 12th consecutive home win. The record is at 27 (January 1997 - March 1998).
For the first time in 11 UCL games, Club managed to score more than once against Sporting Lisboa. So far, Club has won three games this UCL. The only time it did better was back in 1978, when Club won 5 and made it to the Final.
The game against Italian powerhouse Juventus will be Club's final home assignment in the Champions League League Phase. Next week, Club will be making its way to Manchester City FC of the final match day. Never has Club Brugge featured in a European encounter in January, making this the earliest European game for Club in a calendar year.
Some European stats:
- The game will be the 368th game in Europe for Club, while Juve will be featuring for the 512th time.
- For the 115th time, a Belgian team will be crossing swords with an Italian outfit.
- The UCL game is Club's 103rd, 69 of them in the group stages.
- For Club, this is the 11th season in the UCL; Juve has played 24 so far.
The teams have met four times before, both of them in a two leg encounter:
- Back in 1977-78, both teams met in the Europacup I Semi Finals. In the first leg at Turin, Juventus beat Club by the narrowest of margins through a late goal by Roberto Bettega (1-0). Three minutes into the second leg, Fons Bastijns made it all square, a score which was to remain on the boards until the 90th minute. Prolongations were to decide the tie, and with just a few minutes to go, René Verheyen sent Club to the Final in Wembley (2-0).
- The group stage was where the two teams met again in 2006. Despite a prominent role for goalie Stijn Stijnen, Pavel Nedvèd and David Trezeguet helped Juventus to a 1-2 win. Club's goal was by the 19 year old Jeanvion Yulu-Matondo (1-2). At the Delle Alpi Stadium, Juventus had trouble breaking the deadlock, until the 80th minute when Alessandro Del Piero made it 1-0.
At its own pitch, Club won 3, drew 3 and lost five against Italian outfits. Club's last home win dates back to that legendary win against Juventus in 1978. Visiting Belgium, Juventus won 4, drew once and lost twice.
Never has an Italian player worn the Club Brugge jersey. In Antolin Alcaraz, Sébastien Bruzzese, Maroc Camozzato, Fernando Menegazzo, Pietro Perdichizzi, Federico Ricca and Stijn Stijnen Club did feature players having Italian as their second nationality.
Four Belgians have played for Juventus:
- Samuel Mbangula (forward, Sep 2020-current, 20m 3g)
- Koni De Winter (Defender, Jul 2018-Jul 2022, 2m 0g)
- Daouda Peeters (Midfielder, Jun 2019-aug 2021 and Jul 2022-Jun 2023 and Jul 2024-current, 1m 0g)
- Joseph Ngonge (Midfielder, Jul 2021-Aug 2024, 4m 0g)
In Samuel Mbangula and Daouda Peeters, The Old Lady has two players who used to play at Club:
- Samuel Mbangula joined Club's youth ranks for five years. In 2019 he joined the RSCA U18s, only to make the move to Juve one year later. This season, he made his debut for the seniors on Match day 1 of the Serie A, scoring a goal and providing an assist. In 15 league games, he has netted 3 and provided 3. He also earned some playing time in the UCL, and has been called for the Red Devils twice.
- Daouda Peeters was at Club for three years, leaving the team back in 2018 to join Sampdoria Genoa, where Juventus soon came calling. By the end of 2020, he came on with the seniors, but that was all that was in it for him. After loan spells to Standard de Liège and Südtirol, he is back at Juve Next Gen in the Italian Serie C.
With 10 points so far, Club is in 19th place in the UCL ranking, one point behind Juventus in 14th place. Club has won three so far: 0-1 at Sturm Graz thanks to a stunner by Christos Tzolis, 1-0 Aston Villa from the spot through Hans Vanaken, and 2-1 against Sporting Lisboa after an own-goal and a thrilling goal by Casper Nielsen.
So far, Juventus also won three, beating PSV Eindhoven (3-1), RB Leipzig (2-3) and Manchester City (2-0). It also drew against Lille OSC (1-1) and Aston Villa (0-0), but suffered defeat against VfB Stuttgart (0-1).
With four goals, Serbian Dušan Vlahović is the team's top scorer. Weston McKennie (2x), Kenan Yildiz, Francisco Conceição and Nico González have also scored already.
In theory, 10 points should be enough to make it to the next round, but with a -2 goal average, Club is not sure yet. Two defeats would be a further blow to that GA, and might mean those ten points do not suffice. Eleven points should be enough to qualify.
Juventus' last UCL mission is a home game against Benfica. Only two points separate Juventus from that coveted Top 8 who will be avoiding that play-off round.
The opponent
One of the oldest teams in Italy, Juventus Football Club was founded back in 1897. Juventus are record champions with 36 titles to its name (the last back in 2020), and has won the cup 15 times, a record in Italy too. The team has two Europacup I/UCL trophies in its cabinet (1985 and 1996), and also won Europacup II and the UEFA Cup. The Allianz Stadium is the team's venue since 2017.
The last time Juve made it to the Quarter Finals was back in 2019. Last season:
- Juventus came in third behind champions Inter and AC Milaan, with 71 points, 23 behind Inter.
- The Bianconeri claimed a prize in winning the Coppa Italia at the expense of Charles De Ketelaere's Atalanta BC.
- No Europenan football for Juve, and this for the first in 12 years.
- Scoring 18, Dušan Vlahović won the top scorer's award; he was also the man behind the sole goal enough to win that Cup.
This season, 21 match days in, Juve is in fifth position, having accumulated 37 points but already 13 points behind league leaders Napoli. Juventus has not lost a single match but has drawn 13 out of 21 in the league.
Last weekend, Juve managed to win for the first time this year, defeating AC Milan at home 2-0. Our compatriot Samuel Mbangula opened the scoring at the hour mark with a deflected shot. Shortly after, Timothy Weah set the final score. Earlier in 2025, Juventus drew 1-1 twice in a row, in the city derby at Torino FC and away at Atalanta BC.
In the Italian Supercoppa, held in Saudi Arabia at the beginning of January, Juventus was eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual winners AC Milan.
In the Coppa Italia, Juventus reached the quarter-finals (vs FC Empoli) by eliminating Cagliari Calcio (4-0) in the previous round.
Since this Summer, the Italian with Brazilian roots, Thiago Motta, has been managing Juventus FC. As a player, he was a midfielder at clubs such as FC Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Genoa, Inter, and PSG. After hanging up his boots in 2018, he started as a youth coach at PSG. A year later, his former club Genoa gave him his first chance as head coach. He later coached Spezia and Bologna. At the latter club, he achieved an impressive fifth place last season.
Just like last year, Dušan Vlahović is Juventus' top scorer, with 12 goals already so far: 7 in the league, 1 in the cup, and 4 in the Champions League. Kenan Yıldız and Francisco Conceição are the top assist providers. They have each set up a teammate 5 times.
The Brazilian defender Danilo is the captain of Juventus. He is in his 6th season at Juventus and has 65 caps for Brazil.
Juventus has kept a clean sheet in 2 consecutive matches in the UCL. The last time they had a longer streak of clean sheets was in September-October 2021 (3 matches).
Christos Tzolis, Kyriani Sabbe, Hans Vanaken, and Casper Nielsen are the top scorers in the UCL with 1 goal each.
The 19-year-old forward Kenan Yıldız was the first Juventus player ever to score and provide an assist in the UCL as a teenager. Only 2 teenagers have completed more dribbles in the UCL than the Turk (22): Lamine Yamal (FC Barcelona, 34) and Antonio Nusa (RB Leipzig, 25).
Joel Ordóñez, along with Rico Lewis of Manchester City, is the only player under 21 who has not missed a minute in the UCL this year.
Milestones
- Raphael Onyedika could be up for a 30th European game at Club Brugge.
- For the 20th time, Hugo Vetlesen could be wearing the Club jersey in Europe.
- Another assist for Hans Vanaken would be No. 100 at Club Brugge!
The Man in Black
A French referee for the clash between Club and Juventus, as Mr. Benoît Bastien will be backed by his linesmen Mr. Hicham Zakrani and Mr. Aurélien Berthomieu. Fourth official will be Mr. Thomas Leonard. VAR will be manned by Mr. Willy Delajod, assisted by Mr. Jérôme Brisard.
Observing for UEFA will be Mr. Cüneyt Çakır, while M. Borja Bilbao will be representing UEFA. The Frenchman has only once been in charge of a game featuring Club: back in 2020, Club beat FC Zenit St-Petersburg 1-2.