Chelsea gunning for Champions League knockout spot in Juventus clash

Win or draw at Stamford Bridge will guarantee Thomas Tuchel's side 2nd place in Group H, last 16 ticket

By Muhammed Enes Calli

ANKARA (AA) – Chelsea will be eyeing a spot in the knockout rounds of the UEFA Champions League as they host Juventus on Tuesday.

A win or draw at Stamford Bridge will guarantee the Blues a second-place finish in Group H and a ticket to the last 16.

Juventus are already through to the next stage, having won all four of their group fixtures.

Zenit St. Petersburg, who are third in the group, will be hoping that Thomas Tuchel’s side falters against the Italians.

A Chelsea loss leaves the door open for the Russians to slip into the last 16, but they will need big wins against Malmo on Tuesday and the Blues in the last group match on Dec. 8.

If Zenit manage to pull off this monumental task, they will still be level on nine points with Chelsea.

Since the two sides will have a win each in the head-to-head count, it will come down to goal difference, where the English side currently have a five-goal advantage.

For Malmo, the only thing to fight for is an unlikely third-place finish, for which they must defeat Zenit today, secure a win or a draw against Juventus in the last match, and hope that Chelsea beat the Russians on Dec. 8.

Tuesday's fixtures:

Group E

Barcelona - Benfica

Dynamo Kyiv - Bayern Munich

Group F

Villarreal - Manchester United

Young Boys - Atalanta

Group G

Lille - Salzburg

Sevilla - Wolfsburg

Group H

Malmo - Zenit St. Petersburg