Newly crowned Serie A Champions Juventus take on the Champions League holders Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League Semi-Finals.
These two sides last met in the competition last season in the Group stages, as Real Madrid won the home fixture 2-1 thanks to a double from Cristiano Ronaldo. The fixture in Turin saw a entertaining 2-2 draw with Vidal giving the Bianconeri an early lead, which was cancelled out with Ronaldo and Bale scoring within 15 minutes into the second half. Fernando Llorente scored the equaliser for Juventus to gain them a point.
The key stats:
- Juventus and Real Madrid have faced off against each other in the European Cup sixteen times.
- The Bianconeri are unbeaten in their last 12 matches at home in European competitions.
- Real Madrid have failed to win in their last seven visits in Italy, with an away record of W4 D8 L17 against Italian opposition.
- Carlo Ancelotti has faced Juventus 24 times in his managerial career, with a record of W6 D7 L11.
- An 11th appearance for Juventus in the Semi-Finals of the competition with a record of 7 wins and 3 losses.
- Juventus’s last Champions League Semi-Final appearance came against today’s opponents back in 2002-2003 season, where they lost the away fixture 2-1 in Madrid before winning the second leg 3-1 and progressing to the Final to face AC Milan.
Pre-Match Quotes (UEFA.com)
Massimiliano Allegri
It’s a semi-final, they are champions of Europe so compared with us they could have a slightly better chance; but it’s not a semi-final where you can say we’ve got nothing to lose – we can lose the chance of being in the final. We’ve got to remember what we’ve done so far, that we have a chance, while not forgetting that we’re up against very strong opponents.In games like these you’ve got to aim if not to play a perfect game, then certainly to do fantastic things in attack and defence. I don’t think Juve against Real and Real against Juve will both finish 0-0, so we’ve got to do particularly well in attack.
Carlo Ancelotti
It’s going to be an even game. We had a lot of possession against Atlético [in the quarters] but like us, Juve are a side who like a lot of possession. The most important thing is to play the best we can and show our quality. We want to attack and we’re preparing to play an attacking game, but we’re going to have to defend really well too.
Juventus have always had a strong, competitive team so it’s hard to win here. That said, we want to realise a dream by playing another final after winning the Champions League last year. There are 180 minutes between us and achieving that goal. If you have courage you win, if you have fear you lose.
Starting Line-Ups:
Juventus: Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Marchisio, Pirlo, Vidal; Sturaro; Morata, Tévez.
Real Madrid: Casillas; Carvajal, Pepe, Varane, Marcelo; James, Kroos, Ramos, Isco; Bale, Ronaldo.
Players to Watch:
Carlos Tevez
The Argentinian is currently having the most prolific season of his career with 28 goals and 8 assists in 41 appearances this season, with six goals in this season’s Champions League. Playing alongside Alvaro Morata, they will need to score tonight to give them a chance going into next week’s second leg in Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo
The 2014 Ballon d’Or winner has scored 51 goals and 18 assists this season in all competitions, including 8 goals in this seasons Champions League so far. Last season Ronaldo scored three goals against Juventus in the Group stages giving the Bianconeri’s backline trouble in both games and tonight he plays in more of advanced role upfront alongside Gareth Bale.
Writers Prediction: Juventus 1 Real Madrid 2
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