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How Juve can beat Barcelona at Camp Nou

How Juve can beat Barcelona at Camp Nou

  • David Baleno

Cue the music, get the midweek calendar ready, the new season of Champions League football has arrived. The opening fixture for Serie A champions Juventus is none other than familiar foe Barcelona, setting up a rematch of last year’s quarter finals. Both clubs have undergone some important squad changes between then and now, and it will be a challenge for both Max Allegri and Ernesto Valverde to show their team’s immediate value in an attractive early clash of giants.

Allegri will be happy that the schedule has somewhat fallen in favor of Juventus, considering the late departure of Neymar and lack of time for his replacement Dembele to get acclimated to his new teammates.

 

Juventus arrive to Camp Nou after a home match against Chievo that included a number of rotated and rested players after the international break. Unfortunately for Allegri, he has to deal with injuries to Chiellini, Marchisio, Khedira, Mandzukic, and Cuadrado’s suspension. The biggest difficulty for Allegri will be in the backline, where Bonucci’s departure and Chiellini and Howedes’ injuries lead Juve to likely pair Barzagli and Benatia in the center of defense. They will have the daunting task of containing Suarez and Messi, who has come into a more central role of late for Barca.

 

On the positive side, the summer market smiled brightly upon the Juve tactician, and he has a deeper roster than he did last year. This allows the Bianconeri to bring ex PSG midfielder Matuidi into the midfield to replace the injured Khedira, while Douglas Costa fills the empty spot left by Cuadrado. The busy body of Sturaro will likely cover the space left by the injured Mandzukic, with Bernardeschi ready to enter as an attacking substitute if necessary. Knowing Barca’s style of play at Camp Nou, the Bianconeri will hope Dybala can reproduce the magic of last season and catch the Catalans napping.

 

Valverde, on the other hand, will be weary of the Italians on both sides of the ball. Barca need be cautious to prevent Dybala and Douglas Costa too much space on the counter attack, and the always dangerous Higuain will be looking to put the finishing touch on his teammates’ creativity. With this in mind, the Catalans will be focused not to lose possession to keep constant pressure on the visitors, so as to reduce quick counter attacks. Messi has started to move into more of a central playmaking role to both keep possession and pull the strings for the attack, and how Juve deals with this will likely be a factor in the game.

 

Barca will be without Rafinha, Arda Turan, and Paco Alcacer and should stick with nearly the same starting eleven that defeated Espanyol 5-0 over the weekend. The notable difference in the lineup is expected to be the European debut in the Blaugrana uniform for Dembele. Pressure falls onto the youngster’s shoulders early into his Barca career, as Juventus’ defense will offer a true test of ability and mentality. After stumbling in the Spanish Super Cup to Real Madrid, Barcelona will be wanting to continue to build on the momentum of their three consecutive La Liga wins by having a strong performance against the Scudetto holders. Allegri, on the other hand, will be looking to repeat the impossible: do not allow Barcelona to score at Camp Nou...

@davidbaleno