It’s the Champions League knockout rounds, boys and girls. Juventus, one of the two Serie A teams left going in Europe’s premier club competition, will be facing English opposition in said knockout rounds for the first time in nearly a decade. That time it was Chelsea, this time around it’s another one of the clubs London calls home.
We’ve know about Juventus vs. Tottenham ever since the Round of 16 draw happened in December. That was nearly two months ago now.
Juventus has seen Tottenham the last two seasons, so if you think they’re going into their Champions League Round of 16 tie against Spurs totally blind then that’s a little naive. The thing is, though, those games have come in late-July and early-August in 2016 and 2017, respectively, so obviously the biggest point of concentration of those “games” was simply getting match fit.
There’s a little more than match fitness on the line come Tuesday night in Turin.
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We saw Juventus do Juventus things in the group stage back in September, October, November and then December. They basically took their room for error down to the wire, with only a win over Olympiacos in Greece on the final day of the group stage being the difference between playing in the Champions League knockout stages and heading off to the Europa League in the new year.
Juventus might be good enough to do that in the group stage against teams we know they’re better than because there’s almost always going to be a next game to make up for it.
Come the knockout round, Juventus doing Juventus things doesn’t always fly.
We know Tottenham is a formidable opponent. Say what you want about them being from the English Premier League and that English teams don’t always perform the best the last few years in the knockout round. But Spurs, they’re good. They’re well coached. They’ve got attacking talent. They’ve got talent in the midfield. Their defense might not be the best Juventus sees this season, but so be it.
All I know for sure is that I’d much rather have Juventus’ overall form being what it is now at the start of the knockout phase rather than what it was when at the start of the group stage. Juventus couldn’t really do much right at the start of the season other than score goals. These days, Juve are allowing next to nothing defensively while picking up win after win despite dealing with injuries up and down the roster.
Possible line-ups
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Juventus: Buffon; De Sciglio, Benatia, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Khedira, Pjanić, Sturaro; Douglas Costa, Higuaín, Mandžukić
Out: Cuadrado (groin), Matuidi (thigh), Höwedes (thigh), Dybala (thigh), Barzagli (calf), Lichtsteiner (thigh)
Misses next match if booked: Pjanić
Added to squad since group stage: Lichtsteiner
Tottenham: Lloris; Trippier, Sánchez, Vertonghen; Son, Dembélé, Dier, Davies; Eriksen, Alli; Kane
Out: Alderweireld (fitness)
Doubtful: none
Misses next match if booked: Aurier
Added to squad since group stage: Lamela, Lucas Moura