Juventus will head to their quarterfinal clash with Barcelona with momentum on their side after edging past Chievo, 2-0, in a thrilling Serie A encounter at Juventus Stadium on Saturday. It was a crucial victory for the Old Lady who moved six points clear of AS Roma at the top of the league table.
Gonzalo Higuian was the hero for Juve in that contest, scoring a double – his seventh of the season. He has been in excellent form for the Italian giants, scoring a whopping 27 goals this campaign. Manager Massimiliano Allegri will hope that Higuian can now translate that excellent form into Europe. He has scored only two goals in 22 Champions League knockout games in his career.
The Old Lady will fancy their chances of getting a positive result against Barcelona this coming Tuesday as they have fared extremely well at home in Europe of late. They are are unbeaten in their last 17 Champions League home games (10 wins, seven draws), their longest ever run without a loss in this competition on home soil. The Old Lady are unbeaten in all competitions at Juventus Stadium this season with 21 wins and two draws in 23 matches. They have won each of their last 15 matches at Turin.
Italian teams are known for their supreme defense and Juventus has definitely displayed that in their Champions League stint this season. They have recorded clean sheets in six of their eight Champions League matches this season. They haven’t surrendered a goal for 351 minutes, the current longest run in the competition. Juve will have their work cut out for them, however, against a Barcelona side that destroyed them 3-1 in the Champions League final back in 2015.
The dream lives on for Barcelona. The Spanish giants booked a place in the Champions League quarterfinals with a dramatic 6-5 aggregate win over Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16. Not many backed Barca in advancing to this stage of the competition after going down 4-0 to the Parisians in the first leg of their tie but look at them now.
Barca’s domestic form have suffered though, since that round of 16 win as they have lost two of their last five Primera Liga matches. They missed a glorious chance to make up some ground on league leaders Real Madrid as they absorbed a gut-wrenching 2-0 loss to Malaga over the weekend. That was a surprise considering the Catalans have not lost in their previous 10 visits to Malaga.
Barcelona will look to get their season back on track when they square off with Juventus in the first leg of their quarterfinal clash this coming Tuesday. It’s paramount for Luis Enrique that he sort out his side’s turbulent away form. They are just 6-2-3 in their last 11 matches on the road. They have struggled mightily as well on the road in the Champions League of late, managing just four victories from their last nine away matches (two draws, three losses).
That being said, Barcelona will still be a tough nut to crack in this matchup as they possess Europe’s best attack. They lead the Champions League in scoring this season, with 26 goals in eight matches. Lionel Messi is in a rich vein of form, scoring 11 goals in this season’s Champions League. That’s the Argentinian’s best goal tally in Europe at this stage of the competition since the 2011-12 campaign (14).
