Unlike Tuesday’s other Champions League match, this meeting between two giants of the European game could be quite cagey.
Juventus are unsurprisingly top of Serie A and managed to recover from a pretty nightmarish two matches against Napoli in the league and the cup, in which they failed to win, to record a routine 2-0 victory over Chievo at the weekend.
Juve have always prided themselves on being a solid defensive unit and it is no surprise that they have the best Goals Against record in Italy with just 20 goals conceded in 31 games. Additionally, they have more clean sheets (six) than anybody else in the Champions League so far this campaign, conceding just two goals in their eight European matches. Unfortunately for Juventus though, they do lack a bit of firepower and are only the third-highest scorers in Italy and ninth-highest in the Champions League.
Home form has been absolutely sublime for Massimo Allegri’s side this season and they have won 100% of their home matches in Serie A. Having said that, they have only come out on top in two of their four Champions League matches at the Juventus Stadium. Furthermore, although they have not lost in their last eight matches at home in the Champions League, keeping six clean sheets in the process, the last time they were defeated was against Tuesday’s visitors Barcelona.
Barcelona suffered a shock defeat to Malaga at the weekend which means they are now three points behind table toppers Real Madrid who also have a game in hand over their historic rivals. Barca also proved in the last round that they are still the team to beat in Europe with an incredible comeback against French side Paris Saint-Germain.
We all know Barca’s strength is in their forward-line and it is no surprise that they are the top scorers in both La Liga and the Champions League with totals of 88 and 26 respectively. However, Malaga proved on Saturday that even this Barca attack can be stopped. There are a few question marks at the back and it is well worth noting that Barcelona have kept just one clean sheet in their last six matches in all competitions. Additionally, they also have just the third-best defensive record in La Liga with 28 conceded in 31 games.
That recent shock defeat for Barcelona came on their travels which means the results of their last five away matches in all competitions reads L,W,L,W,L. This inconsistency on the road is also matched in their Champions League travels with the results in their last five European matches replicating the ones stated above.
Both sides know that this is a must-not-lose game, particularly Juventus who you imagine will have to win in order to get through to the semi-final. All in all, this match could be really tight and picking a winner is no easy task. The goals market looks the best way to go and thus ‘Under 2.5 Goals’ looks good at 23/20. Juventus have made their name by being extremely hard to break down, while Barcelona are faltering somewhat right now. A lack of goals is fancied.
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