As the floodlights light up the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night, fans of both Bayern Munich and Juventus will wait with bated breath as their teams march out onto the centre of the iconic venue.
A mind-blowing first leg – where the Italian side fought back from two goals down to level matters – means that the second leg promises to put the fans as well as the neutrals on the edge of their seats throughout.
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Will it be outgoing Bayern manager Pep Guardiola or Massimiliano Allegri who has the last laugh in Munich? Which team has the nerves of steel and the quality to see out their opponents in a tie that is on a knife’s edge? Which section of fans will jump out of their seats in ecstasy when Swedish official Jonas Eriksson blows the whistle for the last time? The game cannot come soon enough.
Kick-Off and Live Telecast
Channel: Ten Sports, Ten HD
Kick-Off: Thursday, 17th March – 01.15 IST (Wednesday, 19.45 BST)
Venue: Allianz Arena, Munich
Team News
Bayern Munich are set to recall Arturo Vidal, Douglas Costa, Arjen Robben and Robert Lewandowski after the quartet were left out of the starting lineup in Bayern’s 5-0 victory over Werder Bremen at the weekend.
Defenders Jerome Boateng, Javi Martinez and Holger Badstuber remain sidelined. Robben is doubtful with a cold but should recover in time to start.
Juventus will travel to Germany without midfielder Claudio Marchisio and striker Paulo Dybala – who scored in the first leg. Mario Mandzukic is also a fitness doubt against his former club, meaning that Alvaro Morata should lead the pack.
Stefano Sturaro – who also found the net three weeks ago – is the most likely candidate to replace Marchisio in the hub of midfield. Giorgio Chiellini also misses out thanks to a calf problem.
Form Guide
Apart from a blip at home to Mainz, Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich are on course to clinch a fourth successive Bundesliga title. They stay 5 points clear of Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table with 8 games left.
A 5-0 thumping of relegation battling Werder Bremen on Saturday saw a number of first team players rested(see Team News), giving them ample preparation time to ready themselves for this occasion. Though they are short of centre-backs, they do have the firepower on the wings (Douglas Costa and Arjen Robben)and through the middle (Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski) to unsettle a Juventus defence who haven’t conceded in 10 league games.
Last 5 games (All competitions): D-W-L-D-W (Most recent: Bayern Munich 5-0 Werder Bremen)
Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and his back four – all but one in their thirties – have been a brick wall for the Old Lady of late. A 1-0 victory over Sassuolo – which keeps them 3 points ahead of Napoli in the Serie A standings – means that they arrive in Germany with a winning mentality, so important before a game of this magnitude.
Their morale will also be high coming into the game thanks to the comeback goals in the first leg, which has given Bayern Munchen a little more to ponder. However, they are without key players for this fixture, with influential midfielder Claudio Marchisio and striker Paulo Dybala both ruled out through injury.
Their absence hampers their chances of creating clear-cut chances going forward. Manager Massimiliano Allegri knows that his side need to score at least once to have any chance of progressing through to the quarter-finals.
Can last year’s finalists overcome their injury issues and engineer a massive upset at the home of the former treble winners?
Last 5 games (All competitions): D-D-W-W-W (Most recent: Juventus 1-0 Sassuolo)
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Key Stats
- Juventus’ only victory at Bayern came more than 11 years ago in 2004 when Alessandro del Piero scored in the 90th minute to register a 1-0 victory for the Old Lady. They have not won in 3 encounters since.
- Bayern Munich have scored 30 goals in their last 6 home games in the Champions League.
- Juventus have not conceded a league goal in 10 games, last conceding in a 2-1 victory at Sampdoria back in January.
- Allegri’s side have won just one out of their last 6 games away from Turin in the Champions League (2-1 at Manchester City).
Key Battles
Douglas Costa vs Stephan Lichtsteiner
The fleet-footed Bayern winger will fancy his chances against the Swiss fullback as he tries to weave his way into Juventus’ defence with his trickery and lightning quick dribbles. Whether he can deliver the perfect cross or ground pass for Muller or Lewandowski to feed on is something we will find out on Wednesday.
Arturo Vidal vs Paul Pogba
Starting in a shielding role in front of the back four, the Chilean has the responsibility of stopping as many Juventus’ attacks from materialising in the attacking third. Paul Pogba’s intensity and enthusiasm up the field will be the Juventus’ hub through which they can attack the German Champions’ goal.
If Vidal can keep the French superstar quiet in the centre of the pitch by timely interceptions and accurate tackles, then Juventus can expect a tough 90 minutes bidding to churn out meaningful opportunities to test Manuel Neuer.
Predictions
Juventus arguably have the best defence in Europe and may have put Bayern slightly on the back foot thanks to those two comeback goals. But Bayern’s dazzling home form and the ammunition they have in attack is most likely going to come up trumps on Wednesday night.
Bayern may well end up winning the game – and the tie – but expect Juventus’ players to leave everything on the pitch and go down with a fight.
Bayern Munich 2-1 Juventus
