Tottenham Hotspur will be hoping to overcome last season’s Champions League finalists over two legs.
The UEFA Champions League has finally returned after a two-month break as the knockout stages commence this week.
Tottenham Hotspur travel to Italy to face Serie A champions Juventus tonight and will play the return leg at Wembley on March 7.
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has led the Old Lady to two Champions League finals in the last three seasons so knows exactly how to navigate two-legged knockout ties.
The Serie champions are on a brilliant run of form at the moment. They are unbeaten in 16 games in all competitions and have lost just one of their last 23 matches.
Italian teams are renowned for their defensive qualities and Juventus go with the stereotype, particularly at home where they have conceded just five goals in all competitions.
Juventus have quality in every position of the pitch and are capable of scoring goals with the obvious threats coming from Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala, who have scored 35 times between them. This will certainly be a huge test for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, but they need to make sure they are still in the game ahead of the second leg.
Earlier in the season, Tottenham went to the Bernabeau and drew 1-1 with Real Madrid. A repeat of that would be perfect for the North London club. Getting an away goal will be important and, considering not many teams score when Juve are hosting, that alone would be a decent achievement.
Even if Spurs lose 2-1, it would mean they would only have to win 1-0 at home which they are more than capable of doing. There is no shame in losing narrowly to Juventus away from home, so it will not knock their confidence too much. Nevertheless, losing is a bad habit so a score draw will probably be seen as almost as good as a victory.
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