On Tuesday night, Juventus will be hosting current champions Real Madrid in Turin, Italy for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final. This will be the first time the two teams will face each other in the tournament in 12 years.
Real Madrid are current favorites to win against Juventus, but it will not be easy for them as the Italian side will go in strong. Real Madrid came in from defeating city rivals, Atletico Madrid, for the first time in eight meetings in the quarterfinal round. They were able to advance to the semi-finals thanks to a late winning goal by Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez to advance with the 1-0 aggregate score. Los Merengues are also coming into this game having won eight of their last nine games, drawing one. Although they are the favorites to win this round, they are facing some injury issues in their squad. Karim Benzema and Luka Modric are both out with knee problems and there is also a possibility that Gareth Bale will not start. From the looks of it, Carlo Ancelotti may risk the Welshman.
Coming off of clinching their fourth consecutive Serie A title, the 31st in their history, Juventus will have their work cut out for them in order for them to get through Real Madrid. They also see themselves in the semis for the first time since beating the same opponent back in 2003, and like Real, they are facing some difficulties in their lineup as well. Paul Pogba is still out with a hamstring injury that he sustained during the Round of 16, Martin Caceres is out with a ankle problem, and Romulo is out with a groin injury.
Tactical prediction
Juventus will start with four defenders when they face Real Madrid on Tuesday night. They are known for using their 3-5-2 formation but Massimiliano Allegri will probably change the format to a 4-3-3 to defend against a very strong attacking Real Madrid team. Real Madrid will probably use a 4-4-2 formation on Tuesday night with Hernandez and Cristiano Ronaldo at the top.
Although it is hard to say who will win the first leg, Juventus will put up a fight and not let Real Madrid have it easy in either leg of this meeting. I have the first leg ending in a tie.
Final score prediction: 1-1
Lineup Predicitions:
Real Madrid: Casillas, Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Isco, James Rodriguez, Kroos, Bale, Ronaldo, Hernandez
Juventus FC: Buffon, Lichsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra, Marchisio, Pirlo, Vidal, Llorente, Morata, Tevez
