5 things to look forward to as the Champions League restarts
The UEFA Champions League quarter-final is just around the corner and that provides us with an opportunity to cast a fleeting glance as to what Europe’s premier competition has in store for us.
In case you didn’t know, Juventus are taking on Barcelona, while Real Madrid will play Bayern Munich. I know it is hard to top it but then there is the battle of the underdogs as Leicester City and Atletico Madrid battle for a place in the semis, while two of the most exciting and attack-minded teams in Borussia Dortmund and AS Monaco go head to head.
Here are the 5 things to look forward to ahead of an exciting week of Champions League football:
#1 Juventus vs Barcelona – Rematch of the 2015 UEFA Champions League final
The last time that Barcelona and Juventus crossed paths in the UEFA Champions League was in the final of the 2015 edition of the competition. The Camp Nou outfit prevailed over the Turin giants to lift their 5th Champions League trophy.
Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring for the Catalan giants in the 4th minute before Alvaro Morata pulled the Italian giants on level terms, 10 minutes into the second half. It was all Barcelona after that as goals from Luis Suarez and Neymar helped seal a 3-1 win for Luis Enrique’s side.
Almost 2 years later, Massimiliano Allegri’s side have finally got the chance to avenge their loss against a Barcelona side – who look a shadow of the team that ran riot against the best teams in the world in 2015. Juventus arguably have the better squad of the two teams and have undeniably one of the best – if not the best – defence in Europe.
Barcelona do have MSN in their ranks, but on the other hand, the Turin outfit also have Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain and Mario Mandzukic. The big question is will Juventus be able to take revenge for their 2015 final loss.