Despite Juventus holding a three goal advantage after their first leg Champions League quarter-final clash against Barcelona, Luis Enrique and his men should not be ruled out of this second leg match. Barcelona welcome Juventus to the Camp Nou later today for the second leg match and after their heroics in the previous round against PSG, the Blaugrana cannot be ruled out just yet.
Enrique and his men made history in the Champions League after they managed to overturn a four goal deficit against PSG. However, doing it against a team like Juventus who possess some of the best defenders in the world might prove to be too much even for the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez but their coach believes "another special evening" is on the cards.
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"We have to create a collective crazy atmosphere. The key will be to be clinical in front of goal. Our goal is to score five goals. Those who experienced the night against PSG at Camp Nou will have another chance to enjoy a historic evening," BBC quoted Enrique as saying.
"Many results at home and the recent comeback against PSG are statistics that invite optimism. If we score the first goal, Camp Nou will get the second and the third will come by itself."
Barcelona have a lot of positive team news ahead of their mammoth task against Juventus, with Sergio Busquets set to return after he was suspended for the first leg. Neymar should also get back into the starting 11 after he missed their La Liga clash over the weekend through suspension.
However, Enrique might have to do without Javier Mascherano who is still nursing a calf injury that he picked up in the first leg. Jordi Alba is also expected to start this all important clash after he was left out of the first leg.
Juventus will really have to be at the top of their game at Camp Nou later today if they are to avoid what happened to PSG earlier. Massimiliano Allegri and his men put up a superb display in the first leg at the Juventus stadium as they won 3-0, but the atmosphere will be a lot different for them at Barcelona's home stadium today.
This will also be a huge night for former Barcelona player Dani Alves who is set to play at the Camp Nou for the first time since he left the club in the summer. The Brazilian said that he has a lot of respect for Barcelona but knows his new team can still cause them a lot of trouble.
"I'm happy to be at the Camp Nou. It's a weird feeling being back. This is the first chance I have had to do it. Our chances of going through? Right now, 60 per cent for us, but we have great respect for Barcelona. It will be a tough match, but I know that if we play to win, we can cause Barcelona plenty of trouble again," Alves said.
Juventus have no real injury or suspension issues to deal with ahead of this match. Giorgio Chiellini, Dani Alves and Alex Sandro who were on the bench for their weekend Serie A clash will be expected to start. They had a slight concern for their hero from the first leg with Paulo Dybala suffering a slight ankle injury but the Argentine travelled to Spain.
"We need to keep our heads and find a way to score at least once. We have huge respect for Barcelona and we know that we will need to play even better again to go through," Allegri sai.
Where to watch
The Champions League second leg quarter final clash between Barcelona and Juventus is set to start at 7:45pm local time, 12:15am IST and 2:45pm EST.
TV and live streaming information
India: TV: TEN 1 HD, TEN 2. Live streaming: Sony Liv.
UK: TV: BT Sport 2. Live Streaming: Watch BT Sport.
USA: TV: Fox Sports 1. Live streaming: Fox Soccer 2 Go.
Spain: TV: Movistar+, beIN Sports Spain. Live streaming: beIN Sports Connect España.
Italy: TV: Canale 5, PremiumSport HD, RSI La 2.
Africa: TV: SuperSport 3. Live streaming: SuperSport live.
