Juventus vs Olmpiacos: Match preview 27.09.2017

After both clubs suffered defeats on match day one this is an early must win game for both clubs, more so for Juventus given that this is their first home fixture of the group stage. The last time Juventus hosted Olmpiacos was during the 2014 – 2015 season on a rain soaked night in Turin. Juventus would need to come back from a 2-1 deficit to have any hopes of progression, and in the space of two minutes Juventus would do just that to win 3-2, thanks to goals from Andrea Pirlo and Paul Pogba.

This fixture could not come at a worse time for Olympiacos with the firing of their coach Besnik Hasi just two days prior to facing Juventus. Both sides go into this fixture with a local derby behind them, but with two very different results. Juventus defeated Torino 4-0 and in truth it could have been more, had it not been for the heroics of Torino goalkeeper Sirigu. Olypiacos on the other hand let a 2-0 lead slip and lost their derby 3-2 against AEK Athens.

Juventus will need to be cautious of Olympiacos & what I call the “new manager” syndrome. We have all seen it before in football, a club plays poorly fires the current manager and suddenly play like a completely different side under a new head coach. The previous meeting should also serve as a warning not to take this match likely. Anything but 3 points and Juventus will quickly be playing for a second-place finish and not competing with Barcelona to win the group. This is something Juventus will want to avoid after finding themselves eliminated by Bayern Munich in the last 16 stage when they last finished second in the group stage (2015 – 2016).

The main decision for Allegri to make will be who to have up front for Juventus. Higuain has been out of form and out of sorts so far this season and found himself on the bench against Torino, with Mandzukic starting in his natural position as striker. Although Mandzukic didn’t get himself on the score sheet for the 4-0 victory, the Croatian put in a good enough performance that could see him start as striker once again for the Olypiacos game.

In their last 19 home games in the champions league Juventus are yet to taste defeat and on Wednesday night fans expectation will be for that trend to continue with the first 3 points of the campaign registered come the end of match day two.

BARCELONA WAITING: MATCH PREVIEW 12.09.17

The UEFA Champions league is upon us once more and in a big way with Juventus starting their campaign away to Spanish giants Barcelona. Juventus fans could be forgiven for going into this match expecting, at worst a draw after Barcelona’s shambolic summer. The MSN front line is no more with Neymar leaving the Nou Camp for Paris Saint German but that still leaves the threat of Suarez and a certain Argentine on a mission to score against Buffon for the first time. On paper, it could even be argued that Juventus have a better squad than they had for last season’s goalless draw here.

However, Juventus will have to take on Barcelona with a laundry list of injured players most notably Giorgio Chiellini. Also on the injured list are Sami Khedira, Claudio Marchisio, Benedikt Howedes and Mario Mandzukic topped off with Juan Cuadrado serving a suspension for his red card in last season’s final against Real Madrid. 

Barcelona go into this game on a three match winning streak which leaves them, like Juventus sitting on top of their domestic league. This isn’t the only thing Barcelona have in common with their opponents as like Juventus, their talismanic Argentine is on top form with Messi scoring five goals in three appearances. Juventus will be hoping Messi doesn’t add to that tally on Tuesday night and that their own man of the moment Paulo Dybala will continue his brilliant form so far this season, which has seen him also score five goals in the opening three SerieA fixtures.

Given the names that will be sitting out this match for Juventus, all eyes will be on the formation and starting eleven Allegri chooses. Already there is talk of Sturaro potentially playing on the wing in the usual 4-2-3-1 formation which understandably doesn’t fill a Juventus fan with confidence going into this one. Failing this, we would likely see a 4-3-3 formation which would make more sense if Sturaro will be starting with either one of new boys Bernardeschi or Douglas Costa starting alongside Higuain & Dybala in attack. With Lichsteiner left out of the champions league squad list and Howedes unavailable that leaves either one of Barzagli or Mattia De Sciglio to fill in the right back position and leaves us praying De Sciglio makes no mistakes like the one that lead to Lazio’s match winning goal not so long ago in the super cup final.

Injuries are a tough blow to take at the most of times, especially when travelling away to a club like Barcelona. But Juventus should go into this one with no inferiority complex here after their good start to the season and feats against Barcelona last season as well.

My starting 11 (4-2-3-1)

Buffon // Alex Sandro, Rugani, Barzagli, De Sciglio // Matuidi, Pjanic // D.Costa, Dyabala, Beranardeschi // Higauin 

Juventus: Summer Transfers 2017 - 2018

Notable Signings

Federico Bernardeschi: ACF Fiorentina -> Full Transfer (£36m)

Blaise Matuidi: Paris Saint-Germain -> Full Transfer (£18m)

Medhi Benatia: Bayern Munich -> Full Transfer (£15.30m)

Wojciech Szczesny: Arsenal FC -> Full Transfer (£10.98m)

Mattia De Sciglio: AC Milan -> Full Transfer (£10.80m)

Rodrigo Bentancur: Boca Juniors -> Full Transfer (£9.45m)

Douglas Costa: Bayern Munich -> Loan (£5.40m)

Benedikt Höwedes: FC Schalke 04 -> Loan (£3.15m)

Notable departures

Leonardo Bonucci: AC Milan -> Full Transfer (£37.80m)

Mario Lemina: Southampton -> Full Transfer (£15.30m)

Simone Zaza:  Valencia -> Full Transfer (£14.40m)

Tomás Rincón: Torino -> Loan (£2.70m)

Neto: Valencia -> Full Transfer (£5.40m)

Dani Alves: Paris Saint-Germain -> Full Transfer (Free)

It was yet another summer where a big name left the club this time the surprise departure of Leonardo Bonucci, which on closer inspection shouldn’t be that much of a surprise given the clashes with manager Allegri last season. However, his destination & transfer fee was a shock to fans, leaving Juventus for big spending AC Milan. Also leaving after only one season playing in Turin was Dani Alves, on a free transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.

 But it wasn’t all bad news on the transfer front as Juventus would strengthen their attacking options on the field, a position the team clearly needed when striker Mario Mandzukic was deployed as one of three attacking midfielders when Allegri switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation last season. Instead Juventus can now rely on Bernardeschi & Douglas Costa to compete or eventually replace one of Mandzukic & Cuadrado in the starting line-up. At times, last season Juventus relied heavily on Dybala for creativity and as already seen in his two brief appearance’s so far Douglas Costa will provide some much needed creativity going forward from the wide areas. Something that Mandzukic isn’t known for and with Cuadrado only producing such moments in brief flashes. We are yet to see much of Bernardeschi in a Juventus shirt but given what we have seen from his Fiorentina days this should be an exciting signing and hopefully one we see more of once Allegri finally introduces him into the line up.

With more attack minded players signed Juventus could now divert there attention to a much needed central midfielder, although it would be a position that wasn’t addressed until 15days before the transfer window closed with the signing of Blaise Matuidi on a relatively low fee of £18m (considering Barcelona spent €40m on Paulinho). On paper Matuidi wasn’t the exciting name Juventus fans would have hoped for but exciting is not what Juventus needed in central midfield to play alongside Pjanic. A solid defensive midfielder is what Juventus needed and that is what Juventus have got.

Back to where I started, the defence. With the departures of Bonucci & Alves Juventus needed to at least increase the numbers in defence. Most specifically at right back which was something Juventus needed anyway regardless if Dani Alves remained. To address this Juventus signed Mattia De Sciglio and in return De Sciglio put in a woeful debut performance against Lazio in the super cup & even contributed to the deciding goal in a 3-2 defeat. Since then Lichsteiner has returned to RB in the opening games and only time will tell how De Sciglio reacts. Fans felt with Bonucci departure that a new centre back was needed but was it really with Chiellini, Barzagli, Benatia and Rugani already part of the squad? It is the latter who could benefit the most with Bonucci departure and with Juventus fans wanting the young defender given more first team game time this is more likely the season we see more of Rugani in the heart of Juventus defence. A new centre back was however signed. A world cup winning defender in Benedikt Höwedes. A signing I was very happy with for the reason being how versatile the German is. He can play all over defence LB,CB,RB and this will be an absolute blessing for Juventus as no doubt down the long hard road of a season the likes of Barzagli, Lichsteiner and even Chiellini will either need a rest or worse suffer an injury.

Overall for me, this was a good transfer window for Juventus. Dealing with the Bonucci situation so quickly the rumour turned to reality in the blink of an eye. Clearing out bit part players like Lemina & Rincón whilst bringing in some big additions such as Douglas Costa and a versatile defender in Höwedes shouldnt leave Juventus fans too disapointed going into the season ahead