Champions League: Can Juve turn tables on Real Madrid?
Defending champions Real Madrid host last year's runners-up Juventus at the Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final. Zinedine Zidane's men are in complete control of the fixture after steamrolling past the Old Lady in Turin with a 3-0 victory. Juventus know the task is not impossible and can take inspiration from Italian counterparts Roma which ousted Barcelona.
The bad news for Juventus is that no team has ever managed to overturn a 3-0 home defeat in the Champions League. The Italians will also be without the services of the mercurial Paulo Dybala after the Argentine picked up a red card in the first leg. But Gonzalo Higuain will have some respite as Real Madrid are without suspended captain Sergio Ramos.
The two juggernauts of European football will lock horns for the 21st time in the history of the Champions League. Bayern vs Real is the only other fixture which has been played more number of times (24) in Champions League. In their last 20 encounters, 10 have been won by Real Madrid and 8 by the Italians and 2 fixtures have been drawn.
This may be Gianluigi Buffon's last Champions League appearance and he will do all he can to keep Ronaldo and company out. Juventus have kept six clean sheets in their last 10 Champions League away games. However, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in all six of his Champions League games against the Old Lady of Turin, netting nine goals in total.
Ronaldo has 14 goals in Champions League this season and is just shy of 3 to match his all-time record of 17 goals set in 2013/14. The Los Blancos have found the back of the net in each of their last 25 Champions League encounters. Real are unbeaten in 18 games at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League winning 15 and drawing 3.
The Los Blancos are looking to secure a record eighth consecutive place in the Champions League semi-final. Despite struggles in La Liga, they are going strong in the Champions League. They are in the hunt for their third successive Champions League title, but for now 90 minutes of football and 11 men in black and white stripes stand in their way.
Keylor Navas, Marcelo Vieira, Marcos Llorente, Raphael Varane, Dani Carvajal, Luka Modrić, Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Isco, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
Gianluigi Buffon, Mattia De Sciglio, Giorgio Chiellini, Medhi Benatia, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Sami Khedira, Blaise Matuidi; Douglas Costa, Mario Mandzukic, Juan Cuadrado and Gonzalo Higuain.
