UEFA Champions League 2018-19: 4 things Juventus need to do to beat Atletico Madrid tonightÂ
The stage is all set for some Champions League action tonight. While Manchester City host FC Schalke 04 in a fixture that fairly suggests Manchester City going through, the eyes are all going to be on the mouthwatering clash between Italian champions Juventus and Spanish heavyweights Atletico Madrid.
Atletico carry a 2-0 home advantage to Turin tonight, as they will try to hold their ground as they are about to topple the Champions League favorites Juventus unexpectedly in the Round of 16 stage. The 2-0 home win came via goals from Atletico's centre-backs Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez.
Juventus landed 'Mr. Champions League', Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid at the beginning of the season for the sole purpose of winning the Champions League - a competition which the Italians haven't won since 1996.
But, it will be a mammoth task when they host Atletico today, as the Madrid based club are not a team which usually gives up a 2-0 first-leg advantage in this competition. Without much ado, let's look at 4 things Juventus should do in order to beat Atletico by a margin of 3 goals or more and secure a spot in the Quarter-finals of Europe's biggest competition:
#4 Defend well during Set-Pieces
The key to Atletico's 2-0 win over Juventus at the Wanda Metropolitano was simple - grabbing the opportunity during set-pieces.
Both of Atleti's goals came from set-pieces, and apart from that, Juventus were exceptionally weak in defending the crosses in the box whenever the Spaniards got a free-kick or corner in their half.
If Juventus are to go through tonight, there is no chance if Atletico score, as that would mean Juventus will have to score 4 goals to win the game and the tie. And looking at the past few results of Atletico, especially against the one against Juve, it seems that if Atletico score tonight, it is definitely going to be through a set-piece.