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We begin this game thread with a quote. Antonio Conte said it, so I'm going to post it here on the blog.
#Conte: "A manager always looks to get a result, he's the person who best understands the psychophysical condition of his players." #JuveOL
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) April 9, 2014
With a 1-0 lead heading into tonight's second leg against Lyon, a positive result will see Juventus head into the Europa League semifinals riding high. With the berth in the semis, the only thing separating the Europa League final from being a home game is 180 minutes against a team to be drawn on Friday.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, tonight is the thing that will get us to another Europa League draw.
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Juventus come off a dominant showing over the weekend against Livorno. The key question is simple to figure out: Was it a fluke during a run of poor performances or was it a sign that Juventus are back on the right track? That's what we're about to find out over the course of the next 90 minutes.
Ninety-minutes to keep the European hopes alive. They're that much closer to the semifinals, that much closer to the Europa League final in Turin. Who needs a travel budget when it's in your own backyard? Exactly my point.
Get it done, fellas.
That will be that. What else needs to be said, really? Now onto business.
Starting lineups for both Juventus and Lyon will be posted RIGHT HERE when they become available. Let's see if these rumors of Sebastian Giovinco and/or Mirko Vucinic starting are true. Same goes with the ones about one of Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal or Paul Pogba being rested. So much to talk about, so little time!
UPDATE: LINEUPS ARE IN!
Juventus XI (3-5-2): Buffon; Caceres, Bonucci, Chiellini; Isla, Vidal, Pirlo, Marchisio, Asamoah; Tevez, Vucinic
Juventus bench: Storari, Ogbonna, Lichtsteiner, Pogba, Giovinco, Llorente, Osvaldo
Lyon XI (4-4-2): Lopes; Tolisso, Kone, Umtiti, Bedimo; Malbranque, Ferri, Gonalons, Mvuemba; Briand, Lacazette
Lyon bench: Vercoutre, Zeffane, Bisevac, Danic, Fekir, Gomis, Njie
