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FC Barcelona – Juventus (Champions League)

After losing the first leg back in Italy, FC Barcelona will now try to overturn de 3-0 loss at the hands of Juventus this Wednesday night, at Camp Nou, for 2nd leg Champions League quarter finals. The Catalonia side are going through a difficult time and are evidencing real defensive difficulties, not only at the Champions League, but also in La Liga, with the victory over Real Sociedad putting an end to back-to-back defeats. Juventus made a great game in the first leg and, unlike PSG, they’re one of the best European teams regarding defensive organization, so the overturn will be much more difficult this time around.

FC Barcelona have already gave much to talk about this season at the Champions League, starting with a good campaign in the Group Stage, finishing as leader of Group C with 6 points above 2nd place Manchester City, moving to a heavy and surprising 4-0 way defeat at the hands of PSG in the 1st leg of the round of 16, and making history in this competition after a record-breaking overturn 6-1 victory at home, in the 2nd leg, against the french side. In these quarter finals the same thing happened again, with Luis Enrique’s side losing in the 1st leg at Juventus Stadium, 3-0, and again needing a miracle to go forward in the competition, but this time the enemy is much better organized defensively. Adding to this is also worth mentioning that the Catalans went to Juventus’s home after a disappointing 2-0 loss at Malaga’s home, with the defeat at the hands of the Italians to be the second in a row, a very irregular record. As for La Liga, the Blaugranas sit 2nd place with a 3 points less than leaders Real Madrid.

It’s a fact that at Camp Nou the Catalans seem invincible, having won all the last 15 home matches for the Champions League, and haven’t lost at home in the competition since May 2013, at the semi-finals against Bayern Munich. Still, this has been a season where Barca is showing an unnatural defensive form, having conceded 7 goals in the last 3 matches, while scoring only 3 in the process. However, Barcelona is lucky to have one of the deadliest offensive tridents in Europe, which counts with likes of Leo Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar. This is a game where the Spanish side will have to prove, once again, that nothing is impossible for them, trying to repeat the feat against PSG. Nevertheless, by being forced to adopt an offensive stance from the beginning of the game, Barcelona will, very probably, leave open spaces at the back, which can be dangerous since they’re playing against a team with fast players like Dybala, Cuadrado and Mandzukic.

In their last 5 official games, Barcelona have won 3 games and lost the other 2. This sequence of results began with a 1-4 away against Granada, which were followed by 3-0 home win against Sevilla, a 2-0 away loss against Malaga, a 3-0 defeat in Italy against Juventus, for the Champions League, and in their last clash, a 3-2 home win over Real Sociedad. Aleix Vidal and Rafinha, both injured, are out for this game.

Probable Lineup: Stegen – Umtiti, Piqué and Mathieu – Iniesta, Busquets, Roberto and Rakitic – Messi, Suárez and Neymar.

Juventus, on the other hand, had a much more regular course to reach these quarter finals, starting by qualifying as Grupo H leaders, with 3 points above 2nd placed Sevilla, and taking FC Porto out of the way in the round of 16 without having to many troubles. The Italians arrive here with a comfortable advantage after beating Barcelona 3-0 in the first leg, but now they need to know how to avoid the same fate as PSG and move on to the semi-finals of the competition, if they’re to win this tittle for the first time since 1995/96 season. As for the Serie A, La Vecchia Signora sits isolated at the top of the table with 8 points advantage above 2nd placed AS Roma, being on the right track to becoming champion for the 6st time in a row.

This is a game where Massimiliano Allegri’s side is well aware that if they sit at the back and try to soak up pressure, they will very probably lose. Instead, if Juve can keep they key players away from dangerous areas, press Barcelona high up the field and remain compact and organized, it will be much more difficult for Barcelona to wreak havoc. In addition to this, it is Barcelona who needs to run after the overturn, and if Juventus manages to escape his high pressure and push them as far as they can, double up when they are in possession and shut down the lines between defence and midfield, the overturn will be much more harder for the spaniards. Also, if Juve can escape their press, Barcelona can struggle with balls over the top into the space behind, with Juventus taking advantage of counter-attacks.

In their last 5 official games, Juventus have won 3 games, draw 1 and lost the other. This sequence of results started with a 1-1 away draw against Napoli, which were followed by a 3-2 away loss against Napoli, for the Italian Cup, a 2-0 home win over Chievo, a 3-0 home win against FC Barcelona, for the Champions League, and in their last clash, a 0-2 away win against Pescara. Marko Pjaca is the only player out for this game due to injury. Paulo Dybala is still a doubt, having sprained his ankle at the weekend but will reportedly be fine to start against Barcelona on Wednesday.

Probable Lineup: Buffon – Dani Alves, Bonucci, Chiellini and Alex Sandro – Pjanic and Khedira – Cuadrado, Dybala and Mandzukic – Higuaín.

Barcelona has only won 1 of their last 4 clashes against Juve since the start of the millennium, drawing 1 and losing the other 2.

All in all, it is a game where Barcelona will start with an offensive minded stance, attacking Juve since the first whistle, with the Italians defending well and taking advantage of the space behind the spaniards backs. Although Barcelona will try to get another incredibly overturn, Juve are nothing like PSG when it comes to the art of defending, and the Catalans will have much greater difficulties in scoring goals.