No more counting down the days. No more wondering how many more sleeps remain until you will be able to watch Juventus play on the European stage once again. We knew this day would be coming. We knew that come the fourth Wednesday of February, the shortest month of the year, that Juventus would be back playing in the Champions League again.
The wait is over.
Juventus back. Champions League back. Juventus in the Champions League back.
Tonight, Juventus steps onto the field in Portugal for the first half of its Champions League Round of 16 tie against FC Porto, a team that has impressed many over the course of the group stage. There will be the prerequisite Juventus player facing his former team in the form of Alex Sandro playing Porto for the first time since arriving in Turin to summers ago. There is the curveball nobody expected, with Max Allegri benching star defender Leonardo Bonucci for tonight’s game for disciplinary reasons.
And, above all else, there is the chance for Juventus to give itself as good of chances to advance to the quarterfinals when the second leg in Turin comes around in a couple of weeks.
That is what we’re playing for tonight, boys and girls.
That is what we’ve been waiting weeks and weeks and weeks for, boys and girls.
Juventus and the Champions League haven’t always been the best of friends over the last few years. There have been struggles. There have been frustrations. Oh, have there been frustrations. But there have also been plenty of moments worth exhaling and subsequently celebrating. Here’s to hoping that with all of Porto’s defensive pressing and quality young attacking talent that there’s a reason for Juventus-related celebrations somewhere in between.
That, on such a big European night, would sure be nice to see.
Let's make it happen, Bianconeri ⚪️⚫️ #FCPJuve #FinoAllaFine #ForzaJuve #UCL pic.twitter.com/64eD9t4xdw
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) February 22, 2017
I personally feel like Gianluigi Buffon is a man of his word and that the above statement is nothing short of the truth. Gigi knows all, and he knows that Juventus must be on point if his team wants to come away from the first leg with a chance to advance to the quarterfinals in a couple of weeks. Now go on and listen to your captain, men, and do a bunch of good things.
MATCH INFO
Location: Estádio do Dragão, Porto, Portugal
Kick-off time: 8:45 p.m. local time in Italy; 7:45 p.m. in the United Kingdom; 2:45 p.m. on the East Coast; 11:45 a.m. on the West Coast
STARTING LINEUPS
Juventus starting XI (4-2-3-1): Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Barzagli, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Khedira, Pjanic; Cuadrado, Dybala, Mandzukic; Higuain
Juventus bench: Neto, Rugani, Benatia, Marchisio, Asamoah, Pjaca, Dani Alves
Porto starting XI (4-4-2): Casillas; Maxi Pereira, Marcano, Felipe, Alex Telles; Danilo Pereira; Herrera, Ruben Neves, Brahimi; Andre Silva, Soares
Porto bench: Josa Sa, Miguel Layun, Boly, Andre Andre, Oliver Torres, Diogo Jota, Corona
WATCH IT
TV: Fox Sports 2, Fox Deportes (United States); TSN4 (Canada); BT Sport 3 (United Kingdom); PremiumSport HD (Italy)
Online: Fox Sports GO, Fox Sports 2GO (United States); TSN GO (Canada); BT Sport Live Streaming (United Kingdom); Premium Play (Italy)
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