Juventus vs Atletico Madrid Preview

Juventus have a mountain to climb in this Champions League round of 16 return leg and they would hope that their rested star men from the weekend’s game can get the result they need here.

Juve were shut out by Diego Simeone’s men who left it late to seal a surprising 2-0 win over the Italian Champions in the first leg and the recent form of the Spaniards shows that Juve have it all to do now.

Juventus have gone on to win their next three games after that first leg and even secured a resounding 4-1 win without their star men on Friday.

Juve would hope that the likes of Dybala and Cristiano Ronaldo can get them through but that might be easier said than done.

Atletico Madrid have developed a reputation for being solid defencively and that reputation should be put to the test when they face Juve in this game.

They lived up to their expectations in the first leg and most people now think that they have all but secured their passage into the next round judging by how well-drilled they are.

Diego Simeone’s men have played three games since the first leg and they have won all three matches with clean sheets.

They come here on a run of five consecutive wins and all those matches have ended with a clean sheet in four of them.

Bookmakers have priced Juventus up as slight odds-on favourites to come out on top in this second leg.  Goal markets point to a tight affair as under 2.5 goals is currently trading odds-on while the returning Cristiano Ronaldo is clear favourite to score the opening goal of the game.