Juventus have been the surprise package of the Champions League this season but they are being taken very seriously now. The deservedly ran out 2-1 winners of their semi-final first leg against Real Madrid in Turin and must fancy their chances of eliminating the champions on Wednesday night.
Barcelona fell to a 3-2 defeat against Bayern Munich on Tuesday but the result of the tie was never in any doubt. A 3-0 win in the first leg have put them in an unassailable position and it was really just a case of going through the motions. There should be more fire and passion about Wednesday night’s encounter.
Juventus were cut from 9-1 to 6-1 to win the Champions League after the first leg and are only around even money to reach the final. Real Madrid are still leaning heavily on Cristiano Ronaldo, although there is a chance that Benzema may play some part here. He has been injured for around a month so I cannot see him lasting the full ninety minutes.
Juventus do welcome back Paul Pogba who scored on his return at the weekend. That should have been enough to earn his place in the starting line-up. With Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo also in the midfield, they look to have enough strength to cause the home side serious problems. Carlos Tevez and Alvaro Morata were outstanding in the first leg and the former is certainly worth supporting to score at some point in the match.
Real Madrid have only failed to score at home twice in the past four seasons. Ronaldo looks good value to open the scoring but I believe that Juventus have enough resilience to hold their own in this tie. They are dominant in their domestic league and there is a growing belief that Real Madrid are vulnerable.
I don’t think it will be a thrilling match so it is probably best to go low on goals and the 1-1 scoreline makes some appeal, a result that would send Juventus through to the final.
Cristiano Ronaldo to score first @10-3 Ladbrokes
Carlos Tevez to score at any time @3-1 Boylesports
Real Madrid 1 Juventus 1 @15-2 Paddy Power
Goals under 2.5 @11-10 Paddy Power
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