Juventus will be hoping to reach their eighth European final when they take on an unpredictable Monaco side in their Champions League first-leg semi-final encounter on Wednesday.
The Old Lady head into the match at Stade Louis II with history on their side, having already beaten Monaco twice in the Champions League, while the Ligue 1 side only managed one victory, with the other game ended in a goalless draw in 1998 and 2015 respectively.
Although Juve have gone on a six-match unbeaten run in all competitions, Massimiliano Allegri says his side will have to be at their best if they are to neutralise Leonardo Jardim’s youthful squad.
‘I hope we’ll become the first team to beat Monaco at this stadium in this competition this season. They play very direct football and they’re very different from the side we faced two years ago,’ Allegri said.
‘Monaco in 2015 were stronger defensively and now they’re stronger as an attacking unit. Monaco scored a lot of goals, especially at the end of matches. We’ll need to produce two big performances.’
Juve will be without Sami Khedira through suspension, in addition to Marko Pjaca and Daniele Rugani, who miss out due to respective injuries.
Possible line-up: Gianluigi Buffon, Dani Alves, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Alex Sandro, Miralem Pjanic, Claudio Marchisio, Juan Cuadrado, Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic, Gonzalo Higuain.
Monaco have lost twice to Juventus in the Champions League and will look to take a significant step towards improving that dismal record when they welcome their Italian opponents, who have never lost a two-legged tie to French opposition in 11 attempts.
Despite Monaco’s unbeaten home record in the Champions League, Jardim admits that it will be difficult to break down a tough Juve’s defence, insisting his side will have to think about changing their tactics against a side with a ‘winning culture’.
‘Juventus have a winning culture. They are well organised and physical defensively. In attack they are strong and they really only need two chances to score one. They are clinical and very good at set pieces. They are very hard to defend against,’ Jardim said.
‘Like Buffon, I think we’ll score at the Juventus Stadium. We scored three at Dortmund, three at City and also a couple at Tottenham.
‘Juventus are very different to Dortmund and City, though. Those clubs are more attack-minded and less focused on defence. We’ll need to pay attention to transitional phases. We’ll also need to move the ball quickly, going forward.’
Both Djibril Sidibe and Tiemoue Bakayoko are both doubtful for the clash, while Gabriel Boschilia and Guido Carrillo will be sidelined through injuries.
Possible line-up: Danijel Subasic, Benjamin Mendy, Jemerson, Kamil Glik, Almamy Toure, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Thomas Lemar, Kylian Mbappe, Radamel Falcao.
Image: EPA/PAOLO MAGNI
