Juventus kicks off 38th UCL campaign against PSV.
Juventus will aim to reignite their winning streak as they host a formidable PSV side at Allianz Stadium in their first ever competitive meeting in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday evening.
Juventus
After a perfect start to the season with back-to-back 3-0 victories over newly-promoted Como and Verona, Juventus appear to have taken their foot off the gas. Although they remain unbeaten this season (WWDD), Juve’s last two games have ended in a goalless draw, the latest being Saturday’s clash with Empoli.
The Old Lady will have the opportunity to break the two-game duck when they face one-time UCL winners PSV this Tuesday in what will surprisingly be the first competitive meeting between both sides. After being banned from European competition last season, Tuesday’s early kick-off clash against PSV will see Juve, alongside Aston Villa (vs. Young Boys), become one of the four sides to have the first taste of the UEFA Champions League in its new format.
With 36 teams in the competition and eight games in line, Juve will be looking to finish the UCL league phase as one of the top eight sides to earn automatic qualification into the round of 16. Defeating PSV on home turf this midweek would certainly be an ideal way to kick off their 38th European Cup/UCL campaign, the most by any Italian team.
While no competitive record could be drawn up, Juve have only lost twice to Dutch opposition in the UEFA Champions League (6W, 3D, 2L). Dušan Vlahović is expected to start in attack when Thiago Motta, making his first appearance in the competition as a manager, deploys the familiar 4—2—3—1 formation. Meanwhile, new signing Francisco Conceição is sidelined till early October, and Arkadiusz Milik is also ruled out.
PSV
PSV, on the other hand, swept ten-man NEC aside in a 2-0 win on Saturday in the Eredivisie. They sit at the top of the table with five victories in as many games [WWWWW].
They will be looking to bring that domestic form to the Allianz Stadium in a bid to get their UCL campaign off to a flying start at Thiago Motta’s expense. Despite being in red-hot form ahead of their 18th appearance in the UCL, a joint record with Ajax, Peter Bosz’s side would be mindful of their poor record away to Italian sides.
PSV have never won away from home against an Italian side in the competition [0W, 2D, 4L], scoring just two goals in those six trips. A 4-3-3 formation with Luuk de Jong, who scored from the penalty spot against NEC at the weekend, is expected in attack. Bakayoko and Malik Tillman could team up with the 34-year-old.
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