Juve vs Real Madrid
Venue: Juventus Stadium
Kick off: 7:45pm
Juventus and Real Madrid – two of club football’s heavyweight teams – have appeared in 20 European Cup finals between them.
That tally will go up to 21 this season as they meet in the semi-finals of the Champions League, with the first leg being played in Turin on Tuesday evening.
For a club the size of Juventus, it’s somewhat surprising that they have not reached the last four of European football’s premier club competition since they were defeated on penalties in the 2003 final by fellow Italian outfit, AC Milan.
By chance, Juve’s opponents in that season’s semi-finals were Madrid, with the Old Lady coming out on top 4-3 on aggregate.
No doubt head coach Massimiliano Allegri will be hoping that it acts as a positive omen for his side this time around.
The Juventus Stadium has proven to be something of European fortress for the hosts since it was redeveloped.
They are unbeaten in their last 12 home encounters in UEFA competition and have lost just one in 17.
They reached this stage of the tournament thanks to a 1-0 aggregate victory over Monaco, which came about thanks to the composure of Chilean midfielder, Arturo Vidal, from the penalty spot.
Almost as soon as Real Madrid had finished celebrating ‘La Decima’ in Lisbon 12 months ago, attention turned to whether or not they could become the first club to successfully defend the Champions League trophy.
They make the trip to Turin with a positive away record in the Champions League, having lost just one of their last 11 games, winning eight times.
On a more positive note, Ancelotti’s charges have been uncharacteristically stingy on their travels.
They have not conceded a goal away from home in this season’s competition since the opening match against Ludogorets, which dates back some 444 minutes.
They also take positive form into this encounter, having beaten Sevilla 3-2 at the weekend courtesy of a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick.
It marked a first home defeat of the campaign for Andalusians and also sealed a seventh consecutive La Liga win for Madrid.
As for the Champions League, they reached this stage by disposing of city rivals Atletico in a repeat of last season’s final.
Javier Hernandez was the hero on that occasion as he scored the only goal of the tie late on in the second leg.
Juventus possible starting lineup: Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Pirlo, Vidal, Marchisio; Tevez, Llorente.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup: Casillas; Carvajal, Varane, Pepe, Marcelo; Ramos, Kroos, James; Bale, Ronaldo, Hernandez.