The Champions League group stage kicks off this week with 16 matches over Tuesday and Wednesday. We aren’t going to cover them all, instead focusing on four matches that have been viewed as closer than others according to various prognosticators.

At the moment, Manchester City remains the favorite to win the tournament overall, and with a relatively easy group ahead of them, it’s easy to see why they are favored to advance far in the tournament. Therefore, we won’t be covering their matchup against Shakhtar Donetsk this week.

Our next match preview will feature Atlético Madrid as they play host to Juventus, welcoming the Cristiano Ronaldo and crew to Madrid at Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday evening.

Just like we did with two matches yesterday, we’re just going to look at how the clubs are faring back home in their home leagues this season, as well as what they did last season. Then we’ll look at the clubs’ respective histories in European competition, and then finish with a brief look at the matchup and who enters the match favored to prevail.

Without further ado, here’s a look at the clubs:

Domestic League Performance

Atlético Madrid are the third most successful club in La Liga, behind Barcelona and Madrid derby-mate Real Madrid. They have won 10 La Liga titles, though their most recent was during the 2013-14 season. They have been runners-up the past two seasons – both seasons to Barcelona – and have ten total runner-up seasons as well.

That second-place finish last season landed them in the group stage this season, and currently find themselves in second place four matches into this season as well. They won their opening three matches before drooping match four last weekend to Real Sociedad, the 9th-place finisher in La Liga last season.

Juventus is the class of Serie A in Italy, having won 35 league titles in their illustrious history, including eight in a row. And the rich got richer prior to last season, with Ronaldo coming over on a record transfer from Real Madrid.

They are off the top spot a bit thus far this season, with a 2-1-0 record through limited action thus far, placing the club in an uncharacteristic third place. The draw – a scoreless affair in Fiorentina this past weekend – was a bit shocking, giving that the host club finished last season in 16th place, but it is still early in the season and I would expect Juventus to be back at the top of the table before we know it.

European History

Both clubs were automatic qualifiers for the group stage this year based on their league finishes last season and have long histories in European competition.

Atlético Madrid has never won the Champions League, though they do have three Europa League titles, including the 2017-2018 tournament. They subsequently defeated Real Madrid in an all-Madrid Super Cup prior to the next season. Juventus also has three Europa League titles – the last in 1992-93 – but have also added two Champions League cups, though they haven’t won since 1995-96.

Last season, Atlético Madrid also began in the group stage of Champions League, thanks to their Europa League championship the prior season. They finished second in their group, only to lose to Juventus in the Round of 16. Juventus won their group to reach their matchup against Atlético Madrid, but lost in the quarter-finals to Ajax, a shocking result based on the clubs’ relative strengths.

This Matchup

This will be the fifth time that these clubs will play in major European competition. In addition to last season’s Round of 16 matchup, they also met in the 2014-15 Champions League group stage – Atlético Madrid finished first in the group while Juventus finished second – and the 1963-64 and 1965-66 Inter Cities Fairs Cup (now Europa League). Over those eight previous matches, Juventus holds the advantage with a 4-1-3 record, though with only a +2-goal differential.

According to FiveThirtyEight, Atlético Madrid is the slight favorite to pull out the victory at home, winning in 40% of simulations. However, Juventus is not far behind, coming out on top 37% of the time. Juventus is also the favorite (80%) to win the group, so a home win in this one by the Spaniards could help upset those odds a bit.

Will Cristiano Ronaldo find a win back in Spain this season? Or will home field advantage be too much for him and his teammates to overcome? Guess we’ll find out Wednesday night!

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