First Goal Crucial in Turin

Champions League | Preview

09/05/17

Just one match separates Juventus and Monaco from the Champions League final in Cardiff. The second leg of this semi-final will take place at the Juventus Stadium on Tuesday night and the hosts come in as the clear favourites to progress.

The first leg ended 2-0 in favour of the Italian champions last week and it was an excellent performance from Max Allegri’s team, including two top quality goals. Not only did Juventus manage to score two away goals, they prevented Monaco from scoring.

It was a disappointing night for Leonardo Jardim’s team, who are playing some of the best attacking football in Europe. However, the Juventus defence stood strong and the Ligue 1 club could not force the breakthrough, allowing themselves to be caught on the counter-attack.

The Ligue 1 leaders now have the task of trying to defeat Juventus in Turin, something which has become increasingly difficult to do in recent years.

Trends show Juventus are undefeated in their last eight matches in all competitions, with just one defeat in their last twenty-four coming at the hands of Napoli in the Coppa Italia. The Bianconeri have yet to taste defeat at home this season and you must go back to September 2015, to find the last time they lost a competitive home fixture.

In the Champions League, Juventus have lost just one of their previous twenty-three home games in the tournament. They have won three and drawn two in the Champions League this season and their last defeat came at the hands of Bayern Munich, a match they lost 2-0 in April 2013.

Monaco know they have a huge task ahead of them but they responded well to the defeat against Juventus last week, by winning 3-0 at Nancy in Ligue 1 on the weekend. That result was good enough to see them remain top of Ligue 1 by 3 points, with a game in hand over second place PSG.

So, despite the 2-0 loss at home to Juventus, Monaco are still enjoying a fantastic season and should approach this match in much the same way they have every other game. Jardim knows his team need to score at least two goals, if they are to take this game beyond the 90 minutes and three goals if they are to win the tie.

Trends show that in eleven of their previous sixteen away games, Monaco have scored two or more goals and they will be hoping to repeat the feat against a strong Juventus defence. In the first leg, much was made of Juventus’ defence but Monaco did have good chances to score and will be confident of creating more.

Allegri rested much of his team on the weekend and can also welcome back Sami Khedira, who was suspended for the first leg. Monaco’s major doubt surrounds full-back Benjamin Mendy and if he fails to make it, Nabil Dirar should continue at right-back.

Monaco must attack in this game but that’s nothing new to them, so it shouldn’t be a problem. If they are to stand any chance of progressing, they must get the first goal of the game. This will change the who dynamic of the night and give Juventus something to think about.

However, Juventus have kept a clean sheet in each of their last six Champions League games and will aim to soak up the Monaco attack and hit them on the counter, much like the first leg. Expect Juventus to win this match and book their ticket for the Champions League final.