Highlight match for Grifo and Co. in Turin
Vincenzo Grifo is playing a remarkable season so far for SC Freiburg. With twelve goals and five assists, the son of Italian immigrants is the Breisgauer’s guarantee of success in the Bundesliga. Accordingly, it is a fine reward that the midfielder, aged 29, will face a club from the country for which the Pforzheim native has already played eight international matches in a competitive match for the first time in his career on Thursday evening.
It is also fitting that coach Christian Streich’s team will be playing against the favourite club of the entire Grifo family: Juventus Turin. Additional anticipation comes with a view to the starting position, because although a multiple European Cup winner and a relatively inexperienced first division team from Germany are facing each other, the Sport-Club does not seem to be without a chance.
But it is also clear that the old lady has already had a harder time than expected against the French cup winners in the intermediate round. After a 1-1 draw at home, they needed a win in the second leg away from home to even punch their ticket to the last 16. The South Baden team, on the other hand, had already qualified after a very impressive group phase.
However, if you are not willing to bet on the outcome of the match between Juventus and Freiburg, you should keep an eye on the goal bets. An offensive spectacle is not necessarily to be expected.
Juventus – Statistics & current form
Even before the two games in the Europa League intermediate round against FC Nantes, we made it clear that in the coming weeks and perhaps months, international competition will take on greater importance for the Old Lady than league action.
The background to this is that the Italian top club no longer has any realistic chance of advancing to the top four of Serie A due to the deduction of 15 points. If the Bianconeri also want to be represented in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in 2023/24, they will have to win the Europa League.
Juventus must improve to be in the title race
The task will be complicated, because with Manchester United, Arsenal, the multiple title holders from Sevilla and the three German representatives, there are still some hot irons in the competition. Chillybets is currently offering maximum odds of 8.60 on Juventus as the overall winner.
With a view to the home appearances in the current European Cup season, the fans of the white and black may well feel a little queasy, as only against the Israeli underdog Maccabi Haifa a 3:1 victory was recorded. Against Benfica Lisbon, Paris St. Germain and FC Nantes, they suffered two defeats and a draw. We therefore do not see any great added value between Juventus and Freiburg in the odds for a home win in the first leg.
Instead, a potential bet on a few goals is much more interesting. Already at home against FC Nantes, Allegri’s attack was far too harmless for long stretches. The difficulty Juve have against deep-lying and compactly defending opponents was once again evident at the weekend in the 1-0 defeat at AS Roma. However, since their own defence has also gone 15 of 25 league games without conceding a goal, it may be a profitable approach to bet on a low-scoring first leg.
Last matches played by Juventus:
Serie A
06/03/2023 – AS Roma 1 – 0 Juventus FC
01/03/2023 – Juventus FC 4 – 2 FC Torino
Europa League Final Stage
24/02/2023 – Nantes 0 – 3 Juventus FC
Series A
19/02/2023 – Spezia 0 – 2 Juventus FC
Europa League Final Stage
17/02/2023 – Juventus FC 1 – 1 Nantes
Freiburg – Statistics & current form
The Breisgauer had to wait a good three months. On Thursday evening, they will finally continue on the international stage. Coach Christian Streich can be very satisfied with his performance so far in the current Europa League season. After four wins from the first four group games, the Bundesliga club was already in first place. The two draws on the final two match days were therefore more of a blemish.
Above all, the defence was convincing. In total, keeper Mark Flekken conceded only three goals in six games. Three times, the Black Forest side even managed to play to nil, including in the cauldron of Piraeus (3:0) and at the French side from Nantes (4:0), who are actually strong at home. Last year’s cup finalists have thus gone through a tough steel bath, but will now face an even bigger opponent in the round of 16.
Will Freiburg be in a good starting position?
In addition, it has to be said that Vincenzo Grifo and his teammates made a somewhat better impression in the autumn than they have currently. Both nationally and internationally. Of the eight Bundesliga games in the 2023 football year, Sport-Club only won three.
Away from home, there were two heavy defeats in Wolfsburg and Dortmund, as well as a fitting victory at VfL Bochum. Nevertheless, recent performances such as last weekend’s 0-0 draw in Mönchengladbach do not provide any compelling arguments to play the odds on double chance X2 between Juventus and Freiburg. However, the Streich eleven is happy to accept the role of the underdog.
In any case, it cannot be assumed that the Breisgau side will want to have an open match. The Bundesliga team’s primary goal must be to stand firm at the back for as long as possible and not concede a goal. Since even in the case of a 0:1 deficit, Freiburg should not be expected to completely abandon their basic order and run into a counterattack, there is much to suggest that there will only be a few top-class scoring opportunities over the course of the 90 minutes. Consequently, relatively few goals.
Last games of Freiburg:
Bundesliga
04/03/2023 – Gladbach 0 – 0 SC Freiburg
26/02/2023 – SC Freiburg 1 – 1 Bayer Leverkusen
18/02/2023 – VfL Bochum 0 – 2 SC Freiburg
11/02/2023 – SC Freiburg 2 – 1 VfB Stuttgart
DFB Cup
07/02/2023 – Sandhausen 0 – 2 SC Freiburg
Juventus – Freiburg Direct comparison / H2H-Balance
Never before have these two teams faced each other on the international stage. This is therefore a premiere. The return match is scheduled for next Thursday at 18:45 in the Europa-Park-Arena
Juventus – Freiburg Tip
Three German teams are through to the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League. The most difficult draw in the round of the last 16 has undoubtedly been SC Freiburg. They have to play one of the hottest contenders for the title. Before the first leg between Juventus and Freiburg, the betting odds are heavily in favour of the old lady.
No wonder, because the Bianconeri naturally have more international experience, certainly have the better individual players in the squad and also get to play in front of a home crowd on Thursday evening. However, the home performances of Allegri’s team in the current European Cup season have shown that this is not necessarily an advantage. Sport-Club may be heavy underdogs, but they should not be underestimated
We therefore also believe that it makes more sense to bet on a low number of goals between Juventus and Freiburg.
