Juventus made a splash in the January transfer window when they snatched hot prospect Dusan Vlahovic and Switzerland midfielder Denis Zakaria, but their arrival has yet to provide the hoped-for boost ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League visit to Villarreal.Massimiliano Allegri’s side travel to Spain as the only Italian side with a realistic hope of making the last eight after Inter Milan were beaten 2-0 at the San Siro by Liverpool on Wednesday.However, they go into the first leg of their last 16 tie in unsure form, with results and above all performances that have left fans unsatisfied with Allegri’s first season back in black and white.Vlahovic arrived at Juve to great fanfare after joining from Fiorentina for an initial fee of 80.2 million USD, with Zakaria arriving three days later on deadline day.Thrown straight in at the head of the Juve attack, with Alvaro Morata accommodating by shifting to a wide position, Serbia striker Vlahovic got off to a blistering start to life in Turin with a goal just 12 minutes into his debut against Verona.Juventus’ engine is a misfiring mess – Granata battles to a pointBut in the three matches since has shown some growing pains.Allegri substituted Vlahovic with a quarter of an hour remaining against Torino and his team in need of a goal to consolidate their position in Serie A’s Champions League places.”At Fiorentina he played one match a week and now it’s a game every three days… it’s part of his development,” said Allegri.”He needs to get used to playing every three days, and do it using his technique and not just his strength. Otherwise he won’t be able to physically handle playing playing 95 minutes twice a week.”Fans hoped the signings of Zakaria and in particular Vlahovic would add another dimension to a team which has scored just 38 times in their 26 league matches and was struggling to get goals even before Federico Chiesa was ruled out for seven months in January.Allegri: Inter are better than Juventus, they will win the titleThey are on a run of 12 unbeaten in Serie A and have one of the league’s stingiest defences, and eventually topped their Champions League group despite their embarrassment at Stamford Bridge in November.The question now is whether Allegri can get a recognisable tune from a talented squad bolstered by a contender for Italy’s ‘Capocannoniere’ top scorer award.The other match on tomorrow’s Champions League schedule takes place at Stamford Bridge where reigning competition winners await their last season group opponents Lille. Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel admits his team is fighting to “survive” as the spluttering Champions League holders prepare to face Les Dogues in the last 16 first leg on Tuesday.Tuchel’s side have won their last five games in all competitions, but there was little joy on the German’s face when he reflected on Saturday’s 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace.In just five months in charge last term, Tuchel led Chelsea to the Champions League crown and the FA Cup final, as well as a top four finish in the Premier League.When Romelu Lukaku was signed from Inter Milan for a club-record 131 million USD, it was expected the Belgium striker would help Chelsea enjoy a period of sustained dominance.But in the grip of a windswept winter in Britain, Tuchel has found it increasingly tricky to keep Chelsea from being blown off course.Mendy: ‘Being an African did me a disservice for Ballon d’Or’The first signs of discontent behind the scenes emerged when Lukaku went public with complaints about the way he was being deployed by Tuchel.Forced to apologise, Lukaku has cut a disconsolate figure ever since and remains without a league goal since December.Lukaku was completely anonymous against Palace and had only seven touches – the lowest by a player over 90 minutes since Opta started recording the statistic in 2003-04.That victory at Palace was only Chelsea’s third in their last nine league games, a dismal run that effectively shattered their title hopes.Chelsea are 13 points behind leaders Manchester City, making retaining the Champions League their main goal for the rest of the season.Tuchel revealed after the Palace game that six of his players were suffering with colds caught on the flight back from Abu Dhabi, where Chelsea recently lifted the Club World Cup.Ziyech comes to the rescue with a last minute goal and a victory over PalaceEven winning that competition for the first time in Chelsea’s history felt like something of a pyrrhic victory for Tuchel.With Chelsea unable to establish any rhythm against Crystal Palace, it needed a last-minute goal from Hakim Ziyech to consolidate third place.”We are trying to survive at the moment and you can see. There is a lot of pressure going on if you go to a Club World Cup and want to win it for Chelsea,” he said.”The players put a lot of pressure on themselves and then we haven’t played Premier League for four weeks.”It is a huge and strange mix of a lot of reasons why I personally did not over-expect today performance-wise. I know we can play better, I want to play better.”##EDITORS_CHOICE##Two crucial fixtures this week will serve as a barometer of Chelsea’s morale.If they win their European assignment against Lille at Stamford Bridge, then beat Liverpool in Sunday’s League Cup final at Wembley, the mood music around Chelsea will be more uplifting.But a pair of negative results would only cement the impression that all is not well.”Of course it is hard but that is why you play football, to win trophies,” Ziyech said.”That is what we are trying to do. We have won two already this season and still have more to go.”UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE1/8 finalsTuesday23:00: (1.37) Chelsea (5.10) Lille (10.0)23:00: (2.70) Villareal (3.10) Juventus (3.00)Wednesday23:00: (4.20) Benfica (3.70) Ajax (1.92)23:00: (2.60) Atl.Madrid (3.05) Man.Utd. (3.15)©SofaScore© Agence France-Presse
