Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid
Real Madrid will look to Cristiano Ronaldo to inspire them to victory over Juventus in the first leg of their Champions League semifinalReuters

Juventus, desperate to show they are one of the biggies in Europe again, will look to topple the defending European champions Real Madrid when the two sides meet in what promises to be a cracker of a Champions League semifinal first leg in Turin.

Real Madrid seem to have overcome their struggles at the turn of the year, which saw them lose their lead in the La Liga to Barcelona. With Cristiano Ronaldo looking back to his best again and with that 11th European title now only three games away, Real Madrid will want to take as much of an advantage as possible back to the Bernabeu.

"It's going to be an even game," said Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, who knows a thing or three about Juventus. "The most important thing is to play the best we can and show our quality. We want to attack and we're preparing to play an attacking game, but we're going to have to defend really well too."

You get the feeling Juventus will defend really well, and even if the Italians are not as thou-shall-not-pass-minded as Real's quarterfinal opponents Atletico Madrid, there is little doubt that the defending champions will need Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and co. firing on all cylinders to break down the defence and find a couple of away goals.

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Karim Benzema will not be one of those to score the goals in the first leg after the first-choice centre-forward was ruled out of the game for Real with a knee injury, despite returning to training.

On-loan Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez has filled in quite well in Benzema's absence, and the Mexican will look for another star turn come Tuesday.

Juventus, who won their fourth straight Serie A title at the weekend, will also look to a former Manchester United forward in Carlos Tevez for the goals. The Argentine has been quite good in the Champions League this season, and expect him to hurry and harry the Real backline, while trying to produce that moment of magic which causes the ball to ripple the net.

As good as Juventus, who beat Monaco 1-0 on aggregate in the quarterfinals, have been playing, though, Real Madrid start as the clear favourites in this semifinal, something that the Italian club's manager Massimiliano Allegri is well aware of.

"It's a semifinal, they are champions of Europe so compared with us they could have a slightly better chance," said Allegri, who was also dealt a major blow with key midfielder Paul Pogba ruled out with a hamstring injury. "But it's not a semifinal where you can say we've got nothing to lose -- we can lose the chance of being in the final.

"We've got to remember what we've done so far, that we have a chance, while not forgetting that we're up against very strong opponents."

Where to Watch Live

Get the Video Highlights of all the goals HERE

The Champions League semifinal first leg is scheduled for an 8.45 pm CET (12.15 am IST, 7.45 pm BST, 2.45 pm ET) start with live coverage in India on Ten Action and Ten HD. Viewers in India can also catch the match via live streaming online on Ten Sports Live.

Audience in the UK can watch Juventus vs Real Madrid Live on ITV1, with the live stream option on ITV Player. Watch the game live in the US on Fox Sports, while the first leg of the semifinal can also be live streamed on Fox Soccer 2 Go.

Viewers across the world can also watch the Juve vs Real via live streaming on UEFA Video.