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5 reasons Juventus fans should be excited about 2020

By John Vaccaro

TURIN, ITALY - NOVEMBER 26: Paulo Dybala (R) of Juventus is substituted by Gonzalo Higuain during the UEFA Champions League group D match between Juventus and Atletico Madrid at Allianz Stadium on November 26, 2019 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Tullio Puglia - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY - NOVEMBER 26: Paulo Dybala (R) of Juventus is substituted by Gonzalo Higuain during the UEFA Champions League group D match between Juventus and Atletico Madrid at Allianz Stadium on November 26, 2019 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Tullio Puglia - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images) /
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UEFA Champions League ambassador Kelly Smith holds the slip of Olympique Lyonnais during the UEFA Champions League football cup round of 16 draw ceremony on December 16, 2019 in Nyon. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
UEFA Champions League ambassador Kelly Smith holds the slip of Olympique Lyonnais during the UEFA Champions League football cup round of 16 draw ceremony on December 16, 2019 in Nyon. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images) /

Champions League Hope

It has been a few years since things fell into place for Juve fans to truly believe the club could really challenge for a Champions League trophy. This season, they finally look like the situation is right for them to make another run to the final.

It started with the most fortunate round of 16 draw out of any of the teams that won their group. After tough draws the last two seasons in the round of 16 (Tottenham and Atletico Madrid), they couldn’t have asked for better luck this year than to draw Lyon. Lyon has struggled this season both in their Champions League group and against weaker competition in Ligue 1. Now, they’ll be without their star player, Memphis Depay, when they take on Juve, which will make their efforts to knock Juve out much more difficult.

On top of that, no one team has established themselves as the favorite to win this tournament. Even Liverpool stumbled a bit in their group, Manchester City isn’t close to 1st place in their league, PSG has dropped matches against lesser opposition in Ligue 1, and Barcelona just drew against the worst team in Spain.

Juventus hasn’t been perfect this season (although they were the team that stayed perfect for the longest in Europe’s top 5 leagues), but neither has anybody else in the Champions League. They also seem to be peaking at just the right time as Cristiano Ronaldo has busted out of his slump and Maurizio Sarri has found a way to get his 3 best players on the field together.

I’m absolutely not saying that Juve will definitely win the Champions League or even that they should be the favorite right now, but I have much more hope right now than I did at this time last year.

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