Juventus start the Champions League on Tuesday night on the back of two consecutive draws in Serie A. The weekend’s result versus Crotone was a major shock as Juventus could only eke out a 1-1 result.
Coach Andrea Pirlo is without star forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who tested positive for COVID-19. Juventus should still have enough firepower to defeat Ukraine’s Dynamo Kyiv.
Dynamo Kyiv may not have the talent that Juventus do, but manager Mircea Lucescu has the experience as a top coach to tactically outsmart the Italians.
Lucescu will set out his team in a 4-3-3 formation that is flexible, allowing the team to defend with a five-man midfield. Vladyslav Supriaha should start the game in attack with Gerson Rodrigues and De Pena on either side.
Talk surrounding Juventus heading into the game centres on Ronaldo’s absence. Weston McKennie is also out of action due to self-isolating. Alvaro Morata is likely to start in attack for Ronaldo. However, the well-travelled striker needs the likes of Ronaldo to truly hit goalscoring heights.
Morata has always struggled without having a top forward to play off of. Paulo Dybala could be the player Morata plays off of, however, Pirlo seems not to fancy the Argentine. Dybala was left on the bench versus Crotone.
Juventus have scored six goals with three conceded this season in Serie A. They drew back to back matches in the league dropping points to Roma and Crotone.
Dynamo Kyiv had to win in the third qualifying round and playoff round of the Champions League qualifying stages. The Ukrainians defeated AZ Alkmaar 2-0 before downing Gent 5-1 over two legs.
Lucescu led Dynamo Kyiv to a 2-0 win versus Rukh Vynnyky at the weekend. Although they are in form heading into matchday 1, they do not have the quality in the team that Juventus do.
Group G is a more difficult group in reality than on paper. Dynamo Kyiv and Juventus are joined by Hungary’s Ferencvaros and Spain’s Barcelona. Juventus and Barcelona are favourites to get out of Group G, but Ferencvros and Dynamo Kyiv could throw a spanner in the works.
Juventus go into the game needing a win to overturn their form. They may not have Ronaldo for the game this week, but his absence shouldn’t negatively affect the result versus Dynamo Kyiv.
The Bianconeri should gain a win over Dynamo Kyiv with both teams scoring and over 2.5 goals going into the net.