A place to the semi-final will be decided on Wednesday as Barcelona host Juventus for their 2nd leg fixture. Barcelona faces a tough test as they need to pull off another great comeback if they want to advance further in the competition. Playing against Juventus, a team with a rock-solid defense and scoring 4 goals without conceding any is a heavy task and it needs a miracle. You will say that Barcelona produced the greatest comeback ever against PSG last round when they were trailing 4-0 from the 1st leg and won 6-1 to qualify for the quarter-finals. But Juventus are not the same team as PSG.
Barcelona have won their last 15 Champions League home games scoring 50 goals in the process. They have reached the quarter-finals for the 10th season in a row, the longest run in the Champions League history. They are coming after winning their domestic league game 3-2 against Real Sociedad and they currently sit in 2nd place, 3 points below leaders Real Madrid. Barcelona are confident that they can overturn the result from the 1st leg. But they should be really careful and organized in their defense as Juventus are deadly on the break. Javier Mascherano injured his calf and he might be out for the 2nd leg.
Juventus are flying in their domestic league sitting in 1st place with 8 points clear of 2nd place Roma. They have the best defense in the Serie A with just 20 goals conceded in 32 rounds. They are unbeaten in the Champions League with 7 wins and 2 draws from their 9 matches, keeping 7 clean sheets in the process. Paulo Dybala suffered an ankle injury last round against Pescara but he is expected to return on pitch against Barcelona. Juventus have a balanced squad with the attacking players helping the defense when needed. That shows why they’ve only conceded 2 goals in the Champions League this term.
We expected a thrilling match with Barcelona having the possession and trying to score fast in the game and with Juventus showing great defensive skills and trying to score on the break. The 3-0 Juventus win the 1st leg doesn’t mean that the tie is over. Barcelona are capable of overcoming this deficit. The question is how many attacking players we will see in Barcelona’s squad. But we are quite sure that the Blaugrana will leave gaps and Juventus will contribute on the scoreboard.
Best picks for the match:
Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals in the match at 1.8 with Bet365
Juventus to win with +1.25 AH (Asian Handicap) at 1.8 with Unibet
Anytime goalscorer – Luis Suarez at 1.8 with William Hill
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