Good evening. It’s Champions League time again and tonight sees Juventus try and overturn a 2-1 deficit against Porto with a place in the quarter-finals at stake. I’ll bring you plenty of build-up before the game kicks off, and then full live coverage from 20:00. It should be a good one!
Champions League / Last 16
Juventus Stadium / 09.03.2021
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- S. Oliveira(19' PEN, 115')
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Updated 09/03/2021 at 22:46 GMT
Always gets me that anthem. Every time.
THE CHAAAAMMMMPPPPIIIIIIOOOOOOOONS!
Here we go then, the players emerge from the tunnel at the Juventus Stadium and the choir are warming up their vocal chords for that memorable pre-game music.
Whoever progresses from this match will have to wait a while to find out who they face next, as the draw for the quarter-finals is still ten days away. It’ll be held at UEFA’s HQ in Nyon on Friday 19 March, with the ties scheduled to be played over the first two weeks of April.
Juve have a strong home record in Europe, winning eight and drawing two of their last 12 home knockout matches. However, the two defeats in that run have both come in the past three years – a 3-0 loss to Real Madrid in 2018 and a 2-1 defeat to Ajax in 2019.
The stats aren’t in Porto’s favour tonight, however. They have failed to win any of their last 13 away games in the Champions League knockout stages (drawing four and losing nine) and the last three times they have led a tie after the first leg they have gone on to be eliminated.
Our history in this competition is very rich. We've prepared in the best way to get a positive result that, in a club like FC Porto, can only be the victory. We're going to play in the image of who we are as a team and try to win it. We go with everything to get the qualification.
Porto were really well organised in the first leg and caused plenty of problems with their aggressive high press, particularly in the first half. And Conceicao has vowed that his team will stick to their guns tonight.
Tonight’s visitors Porto face a similar domestic situation to their Italian hosts. Sergio Conceicao’s side trail Sporting by ten points, with the Lisbon club looking to end almost two decades of Porto and Benfica’s combined dominance of the league. There is still time for Porto to mount a title charge, but European competition (as with Juventus) offers a welcome chance to experience excitement elsewhere.
Juve aren’t enjoying the best of seasons and face the prospect of losing out on the Serie A title for the first time in a decade. Pirlo’s side are currently ten points behind league leaders Inter, albeit with a game in hand. If anything that makes this evening (and the Champions League in general) even more important for the Bianconeri.
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Image credit: Getty Images
Cristiano is fine. These are his matches. He's fired up," Pirlo said. "He's been able to rest and can't wait. We know the pressure is on us, but we don't hide. We have what it takes to go through, but we don't underestimate our opponents. However, we are Juventus and have to think about qualifying.
Obviously ahead of a Juventus tie it’s Cristiano Ronaldo who is central to much of the pre-game talk, and the 36-year-old was handed a rest against Lazio at the weekend. There was speculation that he was dropped, but manager Andrea Pirlo was quick to dismiss such an idea.
Porto stung Juventus inside the first minute of both halves of the first leg and caused the Italian champions plenty of difficulties throughout. But Juve did bag themselves a crucial away goal and will fancy their chances of progressing this evening.