Juventus travel to Denmark to face FC Copenhagen on Tuesday as many people's dark horses to win this season's Champions League.
The Serie A champions have won back-to-back league titles but were knocked out of Europe by eventual winners Bayern Munich at the quarter-final stage last season.
They are now ready to challenge for silverware on all fronts in 2013-14, particularly after some astute transfers in the close season, with Carlos Tevez, Fernando Llorente and Angelo Ogbonna all arriving in Turin.
The Bianconeri responded with an Arturo Vidal to silence a raucous San Siro crowd, who had erupted in elation moments earlier when Mauro Icardi—the Juventus killer, having scored four times in three matches against the Old Lady—had given Inter the lead.
Juve will be extra motivated in the Champions League this season after a satisfactory return to the competition last year.
It was pleasing to top a difficult group that included the champions Chelsea and Shakhtar Donetsk, but the humbling given to them by eventual champions Bayern left a sour taste.
Group B rivals Copenhagen have endured a disastrous season domestically so far, taking seven games to win their first match before embarking on a 12-match winless streak prior to re-appointing former coach Stale Solbakken.
In a group also containing Galatasaray and nine-time European champions Real Madrid, the Danish side are firm favourites to finish bottom.
Juventus were drawn into a tough group in this season's edition of the Champions League. Am I going out on a limb with that last sentence? Nah, I don't think so. It's not very often three teams that made it into the quarterfinals the previous season meet the next time around.
There's also this: Juventus don't have to play any of those two to begin the group stage. Instead, Juventus have made a trip to Denmark for the second straight year. But don't worry, there won't be the struggle to figure out how the hell to spell "Nordsjælland" on a regular basis. (And, for the record, I am glad about that.) No, it's just simple spelling this time around, with Juve's trip to Denmark seeing them play FC Copenhagen in the Group B opener for both teams.
While their trip to play Nordsjælland last season was Juve's return to European football, this time the journey to Denmark comes with serious expectations. Juve have added to their squad this summer, reinforcing what was already a Champions League quarterfinalist and two-time defending Serie A champions.
Now the Bianconeri begin a new adventure in Denmark against FC Copenhagen—a game that, at least on paper, Juve should win comfortably.
