Juventus are set to host Barcelona on Tuesday in a rematch of the 2015 Champions League final, and this year in the quarterfinal things promise to be exciting — especially after seeing the lineup that Juventus named for the first leg of the tie.
Juventus vs. Barcelona Champions League lineups: Max Allegri is going for it all in the quarterfinals
Juventus are going all-out to try to get an early advantage in their quarterfinal tie against Barcelona.
Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images
Manager Max Allegri is certainly not holding anything back, naming the most attacking lineup he has available to him. It’s not a conservative lineup at all, as many would have expected from Juventus, but instead will see the Italian side play as freely in attack as they can, hoping to throw Barcelona off balance early and often.
Given how they lost to Malaga at the weekend, that might actually be a feasible plan. Barcelona are running the same 3-4-3 they did in that match, though without Sergio Busquets in midfield, forcing Luis Enrique to to make adjustments to his squad. That means that Javier Mascherano is stepping up into midfield, with Jeremy Mathieu joining the back line in his place. It’s still a strong lineup, but how they handle Juventus’ aggression will be interesting to watch.
Juventus: Gianluigi Buffon; Dani Alves, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Sami Khedira, Miralem Pjanic; Juan Cuadrado, Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic; Gonzalo Higuain
Barcelona: Marc Andre Ter Stegen; Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, Jeremy Mathieu; Javier Mascherano, Ivan Rakitic, Andres Iniesta, Sergi Roberto; Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar
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