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DISCLAIMER: I am a lifelong Juventus fan and while many will scream some sort of bias, anyone who knows me, knows that I am the most self-deprecating, sky is falling, Juve fan in the world. So, if anything, I will be overly harsh of Juve, and mostly Allegri in my writing.

Recent Form:

Juventus F.C.- WLTWW

Atlético Madrid-WWLLW

How they got here:



Atlético Madrid – Atleti finished second in Group A that also had group winners Borussia Dortmund, Club Brugge, and the team that will win flop of the year in Monaco. Atlético’s most impressive group performance was their 2-0 home win against Dortmund with goals from Griezmann and Saul. Their worst performance was undoubtedly their trip to Dortmund where they got walloped 4-0 by the group winners.



Juventus – Juventus finished top of their group that included Manchester United, Valencia, and Young Boys. However, while they won the group their performances were up and down and very frustrating. They went to Valencia on the opening day and beat Valencia 2-0 with 10 men due to a Ronaldo red card early in the game. They also went to Manchester and beat United 1-0 with a goal by Dybala. However, losses to United at home 2-1 and Young Boys 2-1 in Switzerland were extremely disappointing results.



Probable lineups:

Atlético Madrid – (4-4-2) Oblak, Luis, Godin, Jimenez, Arias, Lemar, Saul, Thomas, Correa, Griezmann, Costa



Juventus – (4-3-3) Szczesny, Sandro, Chiellini, Bonucci, Cancelo, Matuidi, Pjanic, Bentancur, Ronaldo, Mandzukic, Dybala



Key Players:

I think there are two storylines in this game. The one Atlético fans are going to be looking at will be, how healthy is Diego Costa? If Diego Costa is healthy, and the monster that he is, he is going to be a handful for defenders. If he is healthy Chiellini is going to have to man mark him, meaning Bonucci will have the burden of chasing Griezmann around the field (insert facepalm gif here). For any Juve fan that must be a nightmare. Bonucci is best when he is able to dictate the play from the defense. When he has to mark and be responsible for defending, well let’s just say that it is an accident waiting to happen. The other issue with Costa is that he is a beast in the air and if he is dominating the game with his hold up play he is going to attract both Chiellini and Bonucci which will allow Griezmann freedom to roam right underneath him. If Costs is not healthy and is a shell of himself, well then Chiellini will be able to man-mark him, help out Bonucci and subdue Griezmann. Costa played in Atlético’s 1-0 road win against Rayo Vallecano, so if he is able to go, it should be a big boost. If he is unable to, well then Alvaro Morata will be responsible for leading the line. While he does have some of the attributes that could give Juve issues defensively, it’s Morata. The man hasn’t scored in ages. (This will come back to bite me in the ass). Interesting fact 1.0 for the Atlético Madrid naysayers. In the past FIVE seasons, Atlei have either won a European competition (the Europa League last season) or have been knocked out by Real Madrid. No team other than their cross-town rival has been able to beat them



For Juventus, the game comes down to one persistent issue that has haunted them all year long. THE MIDFIELD. Rewind to Juve’s past success and while any will tell you that their defense has been their lynchpin, their midfield wasn’t too shabby either. Players like Arturo Vidal, Claudio Marchisio, Paul Pogba, and the “Don” Andrea Pirlo were dominating games. Interesting fact 2.0, the last team to knock out Real Madrid in the Champions League was a Juve team led by that very midfield. Fast forward to today and Juve are trotting out the likes of Rodrigo Bentancur and Emre Can, the latter so slow that he looks like he’s moving backward when he runs. That is why the key player(s) for Juventus against Atlético Madrid are Miralem Pjanić and Blaise Matuidi. I know, I know, what about Ronaldo? What about Chiellini? Look the defense is going to be the defense and Ronaldo is going to be Ronaldo. They are going to show up in big games. It is going to be up to Pjanić, Matuidi, and one other midfielder (please God be Bentancur) to win the middle of the field against Atletico. We saw when Real Madrid played against Atlético Madrid that when you overwhelm them in the middle of the field, you can control the game. That is why Pjanić and Matuidi are going to be so vital to Juve’s success against Atlético.

PREDICTION:

Cristiano Ronaldo has a penchant for scoring goals against Atlético Madrid and I think that this game is no different. I think Juve will get their ever so precious away goal through their star man to take a 1-0 lead. However, just as they are cruising to an impressive away victory against a very underrated Atlético team, Griezmann gets free late in the game to tie it (most likely on a Bonucci blunder, duh) and the game ends 1-1, all square, heading back to Torino for an epic clash between two of Europe’s best teams over the last 5 seasons.



Last, but certainly not least, Forza Juve. Fino alle Fine.



Jay

