Juventus vs. Barcelona | Champions League Preview

barca juveOne of the most interesting matches in The Champions League quarterfinals will be between the teams of Juventus and Barcelona. This will be the 10th match in the European club competitions between these two teams. The fans still have fresh memories of the Champions League final in 2015. In that match The Catalans beat the Italian side and lifted the most prestigious European trophy.

To begin with, Barcelona made one of the greatest turnarounds in the previous round against the French champions Paris Saint-Germain. The Luis Enrique’s players lost the first leg 0-4, but managed to beat The Parisians 6-1 at home and made it to the quarterfinals! I am sure that this victory has boosted the confidence of the Spaniards and they will only improve their performance in the matches by the end of the season.

Juventus had much easier task against the Portuguese club Porto. The Italians recorded 2 victories and found a place in the next round of the competition. However, Juventus have been very impressive this season, as they have only lost once in their last 17 competitive matches. The club from Turin is again the leader in The Serie A and has already found a place in the Italian cup final game.

On the other hand, Barcelona also qualified for the domestic cup final match. The Catalans have won 9 of their last 12 Champions League matches. However, Barcelona lost twice away from home in the competition this campaign and Juventus must take advantage of it.

When playing in the knockout stage of the European club competitions, Barcelona have knocked Juve out of the tournament twice, while the club from Turin has also done it on two occasions. The last time these two teams met in the quarterfinals of The Champions League was in 2003. The first leg finished with a 1-1 draw in Turin, but Juventus managed to win the away game 2-1 and found a place in the semi-finals.

Taking a look back to the Champions League final from 2015 at Olympiastadion Berlin, we must say that Barcelona have kept their players, while 6 of the Juventus’ players, who were among the starting XI are not anymore in the squad. However, Rakitic opened the score in the 4th minute, giving Barcelona the lead, but the Italian club equalized through Alvaro Morata. Then, Suarez and Neymar scored to clinch the victory for Barcelona.