With less than two weeks to go until Juventus lineup against Borussia Dortmund, we recap the Bianconeri’s path to the last-16 of the Champions League.
How we qualified
Juventus 2-0 Malmo – 16th September 2014
Carlos Tevez scored his first Champions League goals in almost 5 years to secure a much-deserved victory for the Bianconeri.
Atletico 1-0 Juventus – 1st October 2014
An extremely tight encounter was eventually settled in 75th minute when Arda Turan volleyed home to earn Atletico a valuable 3-points. It was the first goal Juventus had conceded in the season as well as the Bianconeri’s first defeat of the 2014/15 campaign.
Olypiacos 1-0 Juventus – 22nd October 2014
Juve may have dominated possession while forcing Roberto into a string of fine saves but it was Olympiacos who capitalised through Pajtim Kasami’s first-half goal to put them level on top of Group A alongside Atletico.
Juventus 3-2 Olypiacos – 4th November 2014
With everything to play for, Allegri switched tactics and formation in the hope that a 4-3-1-2 would give Juve more of an attacking impetus. The gamble paid off with Andrea Pirlo giving Juve the lead and despite Olympiacos equalising and going ahead, Juve went on to clinch the result thanks to an own-goal from Roberto and a second-half winner from Paul Pogba.
Juventus 0-0 Atletico Madrid– 9th December 2014
Juve only needed a point to guarantee qualification and while it was a dull affair in Turin, a 0-0 was enough to take the Bianconeri through to the last-16.
Injuries
Kwadwo Asamoah has been a big loss for Juve, especially given his versatility in being able to play at LWB or in midfield. The Ghanian is in the latter stages of recovering from surgery along with teammate Romuolo who underwent a hernia operation toward the end of 2014. Given that both players still have a way to go until they return to match-fitness, Juve have revised their Champions League list and included new signings Stefano Sturaro and Paolo De Ceglie while Alessandro Matri is included following Sebastian Giovinco’s recent departure.
Andrea Barzagli has missed all of the season to-date following a recurring ankle injury which required a lengthy spell on the sidelines. He’s expected to return to action this weekend for Juve’s match against Cesena but it’s unlikely he’d play a part in the match against Dortmund given how well Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci have been performing of late.
Recent form and upcoming matches
Juventus had a rather disappointing end to 2014, losing the Supercoppa Italiana to Napoli on penalties before starting 2015 with a frustrating draw against Inter, despite dominating large periods of the game. The Bianconeri have improved since then, winning in Naples for the first time 20 years with a convincing 3-1 victory against the partenopei while also progressing to the Coppa Italia semi-finals with an empathic 6-1 victory against Hellas along the way.
Recent performances against Udinese, Parma and Chievo were far from inspiring but last weekends win over Milan should give Juve a platform on which to build. An away trip to bottom of the table Cesena and a home match against Atalanta in the coming weeks should be straight-forward enough before the the all-important first-leg against Dortmund in Turin.
In the two weeks before the second-leg in Germany, Juve will face title rivals AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico, a potentially tricky Coppa Italia semi-final against old foes Fiorentina and league games against Sassuolo and Palermo.
Possible Lineups
Sad end to the season if we lose in this round. Massive failure if we’re not in the final 8.
Months away and you’re still as joyful as ever
I’m merely making a comment …. Considering our last few appearances in Europe and how that’s gone, we have to be weary … We should beat Dortmund in their current state, but hey, we’ve lost to Galatassary, olympicacos, tied teams like Nordjelland and Copenhagen and looked like fools in Europe the last couple of years, have you forgotten about that already? Juve has alot to prove and they better do it.
I’m happy we got out of the group this year. We should have build on the quarterfinal appearance in 2012/13, but we didn’t and went out in the group in 13/14. Now we should build on this experience, so i’m happy whatever happens. You are right though, we should defeat Dortmund in this state.
A must-win encounter, we can’t go out at this point already! Dortmund can be beaten by any German team, why shouldn’t we be able to do it, CL or domestic league, whatever!
Let’s smoke them at our place that way we have some breathing room going into the second leg
Some bottom teams in the Bundesliga beated them, Mainz 05 gave them a run for their money, we should defeat them.
Exactly, i dont care they play better in Europe, if they cant beat low german teams they cant be stronger than us
https://football-italia.net/62555/ausilio-‘milan-juve-lack-style’
‘Sporting director Piero Ausilio says that Juventus and Milan ‘lost style’ over their recent falling out, unlike Inter.’
Okay, but that’s simply because inter never had any style
Hey you’re back
Ehm okay, what a moron.
Also, hope this is true! I love that strip. John, you will two.. Just look at it! Not just one shade of pink.. But TWO!!!
https://football-italia.net/62570/juventus-wear-stars-next-season
Youve done me good adidas… youve done me good.
I don’t like the white stripe with pink in between. As if accepting the pink isn’t enough xD I can live with the pink due to our history but atleast make it completely pink.
Also the fact that the pink stripe is darker than the other pink SUCKS.
SO EXCITED FOR THESE GAMES. I think first leg they come to Turin four nothing.