UEFA Champions League: Juventus vs Atletico Madrid preview

UEFA Champions League: Juventus vs Atletico Madrid preview
Juventus have a mountain to climb tonight when they host Atletico Madrid at Allianz Stadium in Turin for the second leg of their UEFA Champions League last-sixteen clash. The LaLiga side grabbed a 2-0 victory in the first leg with goals from central defenders Jose Maria Gimenez and Diego Godin, so the Serie A champions would need at least a 3-0 win to pull through. These two sides had met just twice before, both times in the group stage of the Champions League in 2014. At that time Atletico grabbed a narrow 1-0 victory at home and held out for a goalless draw in Turin, a result which would suit Diego Simeone's men just fine this time as well. Juventus had been enjoying an almost perfect season until the first leg in Madrid, they are right on track to secure the eighth consecutive Serie A title as they hold an 18-point advantage over second-placed Napoli. They did fail in the domestic cup competition, though, they got hammered 3-0 by Atalanta in the quarter-finals. Last week the Bianconeri recorded a routine 4-1 victory over Udinese, despite having rested most of the key players. Alex Sandro is suspended for this match after having picked up his third yellow card of the tournament in Madrid, while Sami Khedira, Juan Cuadrado and Douglas Costa are injured. Atletico Madrid are on a five-game winning streak in all competitions and they should be very confident of holding on to the first-leg advantage. Last week they secured a 1-0 victory over Leganes in LaLiga, recording their fifth consecutive clean sheet in all competitions. In fact, they have conceded just two goals in their last nine matches in all competitions, so it would be hard to believe that they would conceded three in a single match against Juventus. Thomas Partey and Diego Costa are suspended for Tuesday's match, while Lucas Hernandez and Filipe Luis are injured. Probable line-ups: Juventus: Szczesny - Cancelo, Bonucci, Chiellini, De Sciglio - Pjanic, Bentancur, Matuidi - Dybala - Mandzukic, Ronaldo Atletico: Oblak - Arias, Gimenez, Godin, Juanfran - Correa, Rodrigo, Niguez, Koke - Morata, Griezmann My prediction: Juventus to win 2-1, the Bianconeri should be able to win the match but Atletico can't miss the opportunity to pull through. Here are the odds for the match at Bet365: Juventus win - 1.72 Draw - 3.75 Atletico win - 5.50
Sports Events Back to articles