The Champions League returns on Tuesday the 9th of March with a meeting between Juventus and Porto. This is the second leg of the tie and it will be played at the Juventus Stadium, Turin, with the Italians trailing 2-1 from the first leg in Portugal.
Juventus come into the match having defeated Lazio 3-1 at home in Serie A on the weekend. Juventus fell a goal behind early in the game but came back strongly, scoring one goal before half-time and two in the second half.
That result means Juventus are undefeated in their 4 most recent matches, all of which have come in Serie A.
You must go back to the first leg of this tie to find the last time Juventus lost a game. However, despite losing the match, Juventus will be pleased to have scored an away goal towards the end of the game.
Juventus’ home record in the Champions League is good and they have won 6 of their last 7 at the Juventus Stadium. The score in each of the 6 victories would be enough to at least see this tie go into extra-time.
Trends show Juventus have scored 2 or more goals in 6 of their last 9 home Champions League fixtures.
Porto make the trip to Turin having defeated Gil Vicente 2-0 away from home in the Primeira Liga on the weekend.
That result leaves them second place in the table but they are currently 10 points behind the leaders and it is becoming increasingly unlikely they are going to win the Portuguese title this season.
The win on the weekend was the first in 3 games in all competitions for Porto, following a 0-0 draw at home against Sporting Lisbon and a 3-2 defeat at home by Braga in the Taca de Portugal. Porto have been difficult to beat away from home and they are undefeated in their last 7 matches in all competitions.
Trends show Porto are undefeated in their last 6 Champions League games and they have won 3 of their last 4 on the road.
However, the victories have come over Olympiakos, Marseille, and Krasnodar and this is going to be a much tougher test. Recent visits to Manchester City, Roma, and Liverpool have all ended in defeat for Porto.
Team news and Juventus are without Danilo, who is suspended. Rodrigo Bentancur, Matthijs de Ligt, Paulo Dybala, and Giorgio Chiellini are injured.
Porto travel without Chancel Mbemba and Mouhamed Mbaye but every other player should be fit and available for Sérgio Conceição.
This could be a tough night for Juventus but with an away goal in the bag, they have given themselves a bit of breathing space.
With all their experience, we expect to see Juventus get the job done in this game, winning the match to nil, which would be enough to see them progress in the competition.