Juventus v Sevilla
Champions League, Game 2 – Wednesday, 30th September – 19:45 GMT – Juventus Stadium
Juventus
Once again, Juventus are looking to the Champions League for success after a discouraging Serie A result. This time, Juventus largely faltered in a 2-1 loss away versus Napoli. The usual reactions and overreactions occurred from fans, press, ex-players, and the like after that result, but Allegri and the players went right back to work to prepare for the fixture versus Sevilla.
Stephan Lichtsteiner was expected to return from injury but Juventus have confirmed that he’ll be missing out the game against Sevilla due to ongoing tests for breathing problems. Martin Caceres has been dropped from the squad after crasshing his Ferrari and testing over the drink-drive limit. With Simone Padoin not in the Champions League squad, the return to a 3-5-2 looks likely with Gigi Buffon, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, and Andrea Barzagli starting in defence. Patrice Evra will start at left wing-back with Juan Cuadrado playing on the right.
In the midfield, Max Allegri has confirmed that Sami Khedira will start with Paul Pogba and one of either Roberto Pereyra or Mario Lemina alongside in a 3-man midfield. Lemina has been a bright spot for Juve this season, while Pogba has left a lot to be desired with his recent performances.
The attacking duo sounds more exciting than the midfield on paper: Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala are confirmed to start up front which sounds like the right choice. Morata scored the winning goal versus Man City, so he’ll be expected to come up big again.
Probable lineup:
3-5-2: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Cuadrado, Khedira, Lemina, Pogba, Evra; Morata, Dybala
Injuries:
Marchisio (thigh), Lichtsteiner (breathing difficulties), Mario Mandzukic (thigh)
Suspended:
Caceres (dropped from the squad)
Sevilla
Sevilla, like Juventus, have had more success in their one Champions League outing than they really have had in the domestic league. Sevilla won their game this weekend versus Rayo Vallecano, 3-2, but that was actually their first La Liga win of the season. Prior that win, they had lost two straight to Celta Vigo and Las Palmas.
They did, however, defeat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-0 in the first group stage matchday. Granted two goals were from penalties, this was still a big victory. They’re also coming back to Turin for the first time since the 2014 Europa League final – this was the one that Juventus could have been in, had we not lost to Benfica – where they beat Benfica on penalty kicks.
Finally, Sevilla have two ex-Juve players on their roster – Ciro Immobile and Fernando Llorente. Neither have been very good this year, though Llorente has scored one goal. Ex-Milan Adil Rami is also on their side, so we may see a third familiar face *
* Update – Llorente hasn’t made included in the squad to face Juventus due to an injury, Rami is also a doubt.
Probable lineup:
4-2-3-1: Rico, Coke, Andreolli, Kolodziejczak, Trémoulinas; Krychowiak, N’Zonzi; Reyes, Iborra, Krohn-Dehli; Gameiro
Injuries:
Beto, Adil Rami, Daniel Carrico, Nico Pareja, Ever Banega, Gael Kakuta, Sergio Escudero, Sebastián Cristóforo
Suspended:
None
Formation
Stats and Facts
Infographics from www.sporticos.com
Fingers crossed for a good performance!
Oh yeah. 6 points.
I am hoping, naturally, for a Juve win but to be honest I would be quite happy to settle for a draw. Sevilla are a very strong side in European comps and Juve are not playing well. One can only hope for the best and, if there is any luck, pray that it goes our way.
The beauty of the formation listed up there is that if Cuadrado pushes forward into the attack, we create a 4-3-3, because Barzagli will slide to RB and Evra will pull back a little from LWB to LB. This is a great base formation to run, especially once Caceres(RCB) and Marchisio come back, or once Rugani starts getting playing time.
Why no Sandro ever?
What gives?
Feeling hyped already! Hopefully Khedira is up for this, first game in a while for him! Looking forward to a Dybala Morata Cuadrado attack force!
Hey Belgian, it’s on rtl sport, french channel but you should have it too
Cool!
Lets go Juve!!!! Lets do this. I’m fine with us being terrible in Serie A for now as long as we do well in CL. Serie A will come eventually when we pick up our form.
Any streams?
Could have been a PogBOOM 1-0 :/
Have a good feeling about this game.
Good start atleast
Lol Barzagli was on his horse to save that one.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL ALVAROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAYER!!!
Gooooooool morata
He equals Del Piero’s record!!!!!!!!!!
What record?
# of Consecutive goals in CL games.
Haha i see. Madrid, Barca, City, Sevilla? Or did he score in both Madrid matches?
Both Madrid games
Both Madrid games babyyyy
goaaaaaal Morata
I really have no clue how this team is not performing in the Serie A.
Great 1st half of Juve. Sevilla were defending really well and it’s almost impossible to attack them through the mid. Expect Sevilla to play more open because they need to score. I hope Juve will take advantage of this.
Impressive first half but next half we need to take more chances otherwise sevilla might punish us.
Cuadrado needs to be bought asap. Hope Marotta can find a way to keep morata
That shouldn’t be too hard for Marotta. I’m sure they have all sorts of jokes about their names.
Comments like these just beg for name jokes 😀
I couldn’t think of a smart one 🙁
Speaking of smart comments, have you seen Marc around lately?
How does that fit in the same sentence? 😛
He brings out the best in me, smart comment wise.
We will find a new lucky charm!
Also, i love how we destroyed Man City’s confidence. They were winning everything pretty easily, they lose to us and since then lost to West Ham and Tottenham and now they’re still tied against Monchengladbach, who have been pretty terrible this season.
Sandro has been waiting for about 10 minutes at the sideline but the ball wouldn’t go out.
ZAZAAAAAAAAAAA
ZAAAAAAAAZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So happy he does it right.
Credits to Dybala. Risked his life to keep the chance alive.
Great great great !!!
Oh my god ZAZAAAA
I like how often Bonucci tries to get world fame.
And that is how you win a football match.
Great bravery from Dybala this match.
I absolutely dont understand how this team can play so good and so bad in a span of just a few days
Don’t understand either. Juve still has one game before international break right? Against bologna? And after the international break we have everyone back i think. It’ll be good, Juve will win against bologna hopefully and then it’s on
Sunday evening yes.
Yeah, thats correct. We should smash Bologna and hope nobody else gets injured on international duty
This feels right
It’s hard to choose for a formation where cuadrado dybala and morata plays. I really like the 4 at a backline though. Today i sometimes saw dybala morata and cuadrado upfront so maybe allegri should try in the next game or so those 3 up front with dybala in the center. What do you guys think?
4-3-3 is the way to go, it gives us a 4-man backline and allows those 3 to play up front. Pogba Marchisio and Khedira in midfield