FC Porto v Juventus Preview

By: Timothy Dehinbo

As FC Porto host Juventus in the first leg of the round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League, they will be hoping to get a better result compared to their past three meetings against the Turin giants.

Juventus beat Porto 2-1 in the 1984 European Cup Winners’ Cup final in Basel, and recorded an away draw (0-0) and a home win (3-1) when the teams met in the 2001/02 first group stage.Marcello Lippi’s Juve won the return fixture after Clayton had struck an early goal for Octávio Machado’s visitors.

Marcello Lippi’s Juventus won the return fixture after Clayton had struck an early goal for Octávio Machado’s visitors. Alessandro Del Piero and Paolo Montero turned the game in the home team’s favour, David Trezeguet sealing victory late on.

The two-time European champions are in the knockout rounds for the second time in three seasons. Two years ago at this stage they beat FC Basel 5-1 on aggregate ( 1-1 A, 4-0 H) but went out 7-4 on aggregate in the quarter-finals to FC Bayern München .

Porto picked up seven points at home in this season’s group stage, winning 1-0 against Club Brugge KV, their first European home victory in five matches and 5-0 against Group G winners Leicester City FC.

Attempting to reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the sixth time, the Dragons are unbeaten in
their last seven (W3 D4) home encounters with Italian visitors. Before that, they had won only one of six (D2 L3).

Overall, their record in 28 European games with Serie A opponents is W8 D9 L11. It includes another defeat on neutral territory, AC Milan triumphing 1-0 in the 2003 UEFA Super Cup in Monaco.

Nuno Espírito Santo’s team qualified for this season’s group stage with a 4-1 aggregate play-off victory over AS Roma. After a 1-1 first-leg draw in Portugal they prevailed 3-0 over nine-man Roma in the return leg.

Ahead of the clash, Nuno Espirito said, “We are ready and our players are up for this. We are going to see a great game between two of the best 16 teams in Europe. This Porto side is ready to battle against fantastic opponents. This is a big challenge.

The Estádio do Dragão is going to be filled with passionate fans who will get right behind us, and we want to capture that energy and channel it through the team. We shouldn’t underestimate any team but we shouldn’t feel inferior either. We must play to our greatest strengths”

The Bianconeri won all three away fixtures in Group H and finished top with a three-point advantage. On matchday
two they equaled their biggest UEFA Champions League away victory, winning 4-0 at GNK Dinamo Zagreb.
Juventus are targeting their tenth quarter- final in the UEFA Champions League but just their third in the last seven attempts.

In last year’s round of 16 the two-time European champions drew 2-2 at home to Bayern München, succumbing 4-2 away in extra time.

Their last encounter with a Portuguese Liga club came in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League semifinals, when they
drew 0-0 at home to SL Benfica having lost the Lisbon first leg 2-1 denying them a place in the final at their own Juventus Stadium.

Juventus’s 11 meetings with Portuguese sides have ended W5 D2 L4 (W1 D1 L3 away). All four of those defeats came against Benfica. Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus coach ahead of the game said:

“Porto are a team and a club accustomed to being in the Champions League. They are unbeaten since September, having conceded only 14 goals all season. They have beaten Bayern and Chelsea at home in the last three years. They have an excellent record, so this is a difficult test. We know the problems we’ll run into.

“We have to keep focused on the most important thing, which is the game. These will be 180 very difficult minutes because Porto are the worst side we could’ve drawn in the round of 16. We do not want to be distracted by a situation that does not exist [with Leonardo Bonucci, who will watch from the stands as a disciplinary measure following an incident on Friday].”

This match would be exciting with goals, but Juventus form could edge it for them.
PREDICTION: FC PORTO 1-2 JUVENTUS