Tactical Preview: Juventus - Quarterfinals

As soon as the Champions League draw for the quarter finals of this year edition was revealed, there were two games that took all the attention: Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich and Barcelona vs Juventus. While the two Spanish giants and the Bavarians were undoubtedly the three greatest European sides for the past few years, Juventus looks at the moment as the team that has the weapons to trouble those teams the most, alongside Atlético Madrid.

While both teams dominated their respective groups without much drama, the first knockout stage was very different for each side. The five-time Serie A defending champions advanced with ease against Porto, winning both games comfortably (1-0 and 2-0), while Barcelona had to pull one of the most memorable comebacks in the history of the competition against Paris Saint Germain, winning the return leg 6-1 after losing the first one 4-0.

The tie will be a very interesting duel of contrasts, with Barcelona being the team that has scored the most goals in the competition so far, 26, and Juventus being the team that conceded the least, 2. Lionel Messi is also currently the top goalscorer of the competition, with 11 goals, only three goals away of his highest tally ever in a single edition of the tournament, in 2011-2012.

The most recent matchup between the two teams was during the Champions League final only two years ago, when Barcelona clinched the trophy winning the game by 3-1. While the Catalans have almost the same team that won the title that season, while the Bianconeri have seen many changes in their starting XI. The biggest improvement came in the wings with the signings of Alex Sandro, Juan Cuadrado and Dani Alves, who played at Barcelona for eight seasons, and upfront with Gonzalo Higuaín and Paulo Dybala. On the other hand, midfield appears slightly weaker, after the departures of Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal (nonetheless replaced very well with Miralem Pjanic and Sami Khedira).