Juventus v Barcelona
Tuesday 11th April, 19.45
Live on BT Sport 2


Juventus

Juventus put the disappointment of last week's defeat to Napoli behind them with a comfortable 2-0 win at home over Chievo on Saturday.

Gonzalo Higuain scored twice for the second game running having previously gone five league games without a goal, while Paulo Dybala continued to shine in behind him.

Perhaps more of a boost to the Bianconeri was the fact they were able to rest Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini and Barca old boy Dani Alves in defence ahead of this crunch Champions League clash at the Juventus Stadium.

Juve have a formidable record in Turin, having won an incredible 32 league games in a row at home and look heavy favourites to lift a sixth Serie A title in succession.

Barcelona 


How different Barcelona's season would have looked were it not for that magical night at Camp Nou last month.

The Catalans lost 2-0 to lowly Malaga on Saturday night, dealing a blow to their pursuit of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga after Zinedine Zidane's men dropped points earlier in the day against Atletico. 

Barca looked ragged in defence at La Rosaleda and Luis Enrique will be desperately hoping Gerard Pique, who missed out through suspension alongside Ivan Rakitic, can come back in and sure things up. 

Andres Iniesta was also dropped to the bench for the visit to Spain's south coast and - having started both games against PSG in the last round - we can expect him to have an important role to play on Tuesday, big game player that he is.

Match odds 


The last time these two sides met was in the final of this competition in 2015, with Barca running out 3-1 winners thanks to goals from Rakitic, Neymar and Luis Suarez

Tuesday's game will represent the first time Suarez has faced Chiellini since getting his teeth stuck into him in the 2014 World Cup, after the centre-half missed the last clash through injury.

Boss Massimiliano Allegri will be hoping Chiellini's influence on Juve's defence can help to stifle Barca's MSN trio in the same way the Italian champions have been doing to other strike force's from across the continent.

Added to that formidable home record in the league, the Bianconeri have only conceded three goals in their last eight Champions League games at the Juventus Stadiumand have not lost there in the competition since the 2013 semi-final against eventual champions Bayern Munich. 

Barcelona have lost three of their last five away Champions League games and while they have bounced back since defeat in Paris, they still look beatable. 

While anything can happen in the return leg at Camp Nou, it would be no surprise to see Juve win this one by a goal or two at odds of 2.70. Barca are available at 2.96 and the draw 3.40.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals 


While the first legs of knockout football have a reputation aslow scoring affairs, the Champions League has bucked that trend so far this season.

Six out of eight first leg results in the last round went over 2.5 goals and there will be an embarrassment of attacking riches on display on Tuesday.

Malaga were the first team that has managed to produce a clean sheet against Barcelona since their humbling in Paris. If Juve can't make it two in a row then overs looks a decent shout at 2.08.

Recommended Bet
Back Juventus to win @ 2.70


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