Serie A champions Juventus travel to Portugal on Wednesday to face FC Porto at Estadio do Dragao in the first leg of their Champions League last sixteen clash. The two teams have met in the group stage of the competition back in 2001 and Juventus won 3-1 at home after a goalless draw in Portugal. The two sides have also met in the Cup Winners' Cup final all the way back in 1984 and Juventus won the trophy following a 2-1 victory in Basel. FC Porto have knocked out AS Roma this summer in the Champions League playoff.
FC Porto have won their last six league matches but they still trail leaders Benfica by one point in the Portuguese top flight. They have been very strong at home this season, they haven't lost any of their matches at home and have won all but four. Porto finished second in their Champions League group, despite beating top-placed Leicester 5-0 at Estadio do Dragao in the last group match. Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has not injury worries ahead of his match, so he can field his best possible starting eleven.
Juventus are coming into this match after seven consecutive wins in all competitions, they are still dominating the Serie A and will most likely win yet another title at the end of the season. They are still undefeated in the Champions League this season as they cruised through the group stage with four wins and two draws. Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli are the only fitness doubts for head coach Massimiliano Allegri, who will most likely choose to field the 4-2-3-1 formation that he has been employing lately.
Probable line-ups:
Porto: Casillas - M. Pereira, Felipe, Marcano, Telles - D. Pereira - Corona, Torres, Brahimi - Jota, A. Silva
Juventus: Buffon - Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Sandro - Pjanic, Khedira - Cuadrado, Dybala, Mandzukic - Higuain
My prediction: 1-1 draw.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Porto win - 3.60
Draw - 3.20
Juventus win - 2.30
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Comments (1)
sharpe
02/21/17, 11:02:40 PM
Like you mentioned Johnny ,Porto is really great home side this season and they will definitely create some problems for the favourite Juventus who has a solid lead...
Like you mentioned Johnny ,Porto is really great home side this season and they will definitely create some problems for the favourite Juventus who has a solid lead from the first match. If there's any sign of underestimation from Juventus in that match they could suffer but I think they're too experienced to let that happen. Should be a tough game but I'm fancy Juventus chances - 1-2 away win.
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