Juventus has taken the lead in Group H of the UEFA Champions League group stage following a valuable 1-0 victory over visiting Chelsea on Wednesday in the second round of group matches. This match also saw Zenit St. Petersburg achieve a significant 4-0 win against Malmo from Sweden. Juventus, who won the title in 1985 and 1996, now has six points at the top of the group, three points ahead of their closest challengers, Chelsea (the defending champions) and Zenit, while Malmo sits at the bottom with no points.
Federico Chiesa was the star of the match, scoring Juventus's only goal just ten seconds into the second half, allowing the team, known as "La Vecchia Signora," to continue on an upward trajectory following three consecutive wins across all competitions after a disappointing start in Serie A.
On the other hand, this loss deepens the woes for Chelsea, who fell 1-0 to Manchester City in their last Premier League match last Saturday. With this victory, Juventus has continued its dominance over Chelsea for the second consecutive match, having defeated the London side in their last encounter during the group stage of the Champions League in 2012.
In addition, Zenit secured their first three points in the group after a resounding 4-0 victory over Malmo. Zenit opened the scoring early through Claudinho in the ninth minute, followed by a second goal from Daniil Krugovoy in the 49th minute. Malmo's struggles intensified when they were reduced to ten players after their Bosnian player Anel Ahmedhodzic was sent off in the 53rd minute, allowing the Russian team to exploit the numerical advantage and score third and fourth goals through Alexey Sutormin and Wendel in the 80th minute and in stoppage time of the second half, respectively.
Zenit had started their group campaign with a 1-0 loss to Chelsea, while Malmo had lost 3-0 to Juventus in their opening match.
