Football fans can enjoy a final-worthy match in the UEFA Champions League group stage on Tuesday evening as Barcelona take on Serie A champions Juventus at Camp Nou. The two sides are the favourites to qualify from Group D but both Olympiakos Piraeus and Sporting CP are tough sides that can pull off upsets. The two teams have met in the same competition last season, the clash took place in the quarter-finals and Juventus pulled off the coup with a 3-0 victory in Turin and a goalless draw in Catalonia.
Barcelona started the season quite badly, they lost Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain and were also handed a double defeat by bitter rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup. They recovered with three wins out of three in LaLiga, but the opponents were nowhere near the quality of Juventus. Sergi Roberto might recover in time for this match, if he does he will replace Nelson Semedo at right-back. Rafinha is out of contention due to an injury and will remain so for quite some time.
Juventus also lost their domestic Super Cup, they were beaten 3-2 by Lazio, but they also recovered with three wins out of three in Serie A. Last weekend the Bianconeri defeated Chievo 3-0 and both Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala got their names on the score sheet. Juan Cuadrado is suspended after being sent off in the Champions League final last season, while Giorgio Chiellini, Mario Mandzukic, Sami Khedira and Claudio Marchisio are all injured. Alex Sandro did not play last weekend but he might recover in time for Tuesday's match.
Probable line-ups:
Barcelona: Ter Stegen - Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Alba - Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta - Messi, Suarez, Dembele
Juventus: Buffon - De Sciglio, Barzagli, Rugani, Alex Sandro - Pjanic, Matuidi - Costa, Dybala, Bernardeschi - Higuain
My prediction: 2-2 draw.
Here are the odds at Bet365:
Barcelona win - 1.67
Draw - 4.10
Juventus win - 5.50
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