Juventus welcome Barcelona to Allianz Stadium on Wednesday for what is arguably the standout tie of Matchday 2 of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League.
Not only are the two clubs giants of European football, but this matchup also sees Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona renew their rivalry.
The team sits joint-top of Group G following comfortable victory on Matchday 1, with Juventus beating Dynamo Kiev 2-0 and Barcelona thrashing Ferencvaros 5-1.
Juventus may be unbeaten in Serie A this term, but a record of two wins and three draws means they find themselves three points behind early frontrunners AC Milan.
Back-to-back draws with newly-promoted Crotone and struggling Verona prove that Andrea Pirlo is still learning about his players.
Of course, the absence of Ronaldo hasn’t help matters. The Portuguese has been self-isolating, although Alvaro Morata has done his best to fill his boots.
Morata has netted three goals in his last three appearances, and as an ex-Real Madrid player, he will be eager to add to his tally against Barcelona.
Despite a run of iffy results, let’s not forget that Juventus have won their last four Champions League games on home soil and have only lost one of their previous nine games in the competition.
Meanwhile, Barcelona were beaten 3-1 by Real Madrid last weekend, with the El Clasico defeat leaving Ronald Koeman’s side down in twelfth place in La Liga.
After winning their opening two games, Barcelona have now failed to win any of their previous three domestic outings.
A draw with Sevilla and a defeat to Getafe came before the loss to Los Blancos, meaning Barca are already seven points behind league leaders Real Sociedad and six behind Real Madrid.
Koeman’s men can take confidence from the fact they thrashed Ferencvaros 5-1 last week, although Barcelona were always expected to win that game.
Teenage sensation Ansu Fati has been the star of the show this season, notching up five goals and two assists in six games in all competitions.
Head-to-head: Juventus and Barcelona faced each other in both the 2016/17 and 2017/18 Champions League campaigns.
Both sides claimed a 3-0 victory during that period, with two goalless draws also coming in that time. It’s safe to say the recent head-to-head record between the teams is pretty even.
Team news: It remains unclear whether Ronaldo will feature for Juventus. Matthijs de Ligt, Alex Sandro and Giorgio Chiellini are sidelined.
As for Barcelona, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Samuel Umtiti, Philippe Coutinho and Oscar Mingueza are all on the treatment table.
Neither manager will be overly pleased with the way their team have started the season, but it could be argued that Pirlo has more reason for optimism.
Forebet predicts that Juventus will score over 1.5 goals and keep a clean sheet on their way to victory over Barcelona on Wednesday.
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