The UEFA Champions League round of 16 brings together two clubs who have enjoyed considerable recent success in the competition without lifting the trophy as Atlético Madrid welcome Juventus to the Estadio Metropolitano, venue for this season’s final.
• Both sides have reached the final twice in the past five seasons, Atlético losing to neighbours Real Madrid in 2014 and 2016 whereas Juve were beaten by Barcelona in 2015 and Real Madrid two years later.
• Group A runners-up Atlético will be looking to continue their winning run at home to Italian clubs as they take on a Juventus side whose last two campaigns in the competition have ended in defeat by Spanish opposition.
Previous meetings
• The sides were paired together in the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League group stage, when an Arda Turan goal gave Atlético a 1-0 win at their former home, the Vicente Calderón. Current Juve striker Mario Mandžukić was in the Atlético side, as were Diego Godín, Juanfran, Koke, Saúl Ñíguez and substitute Antoine Griezmann with Jan Oblak and José María Giménez unused replacements; Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci played for Juventus.
• The second game in Turin ended goalless, a result that meant Atlético finished first in the section and Juve second, though it was the Italian side that went on to reach that season’s final.
Form guide
Atlético
• Diego Simeone’s side are in the round of 16 for the fifth time in six seasons; in 2017/18 they failed to progress from their UEFA Champions League group, finishing third, but went on to win the UEFA Europa League.
• The Spanish side have won four of their five round of 16 ties, losing only the first – on away goals against Porto in 2008/09. Most recently, they beat Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 on aggregate in the 2016/17 competition (4-2 away, 0-0 home).
• Atlético’s record in two-legged knockout ties against Italian clubs is W4 L4. Their most recent contest was a 5-1 aggregate victory against AC Milan (1-0 away, 4-1 home) at this stage of the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League.
• Atlético are unbeaten in 12 home UEFA Champions League knockout matches (W7 D5), since a 3-2 loss to Ajax in the 1996/97 quarter-final second leg that sealed a 4-3 aggregate defeat.
• Los Colchoneros have won their last five home games against Italian visitors, most recently a 2-0 defeat of Roma on matchday five of last season’s UEFA Champions League. Atlético have won seven of their last nine games with Serie A sides, home and away (D2), since a 2-0 loss at Udinese in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stage.
• Atlético have won their last eight home European matches – the 3-1 defeat of Club Brugge on matchday two was the only one in which they conceded a goal. A 2-1 loss to Chelsea on matchday two last season is Atlético’s only defeat in the last 21 European games in their own stadium (W17 D3).
• This season Atlético also beat Borussia Dortmund and Monaco, both 2-0, but finished second behind Dortmund in Group A. They went down 4-0 in Germany on matchday three, their joint heaviest European defeat and only their second loss in their last 20 matches in continental competition (W13 D5).
• Simeone’s charges have already lifted European silverware this season, beating Real Madrid 4-2 in August’s UEFA Super Cup in Tallinn – making them the first team to win the competition on their first three appearances.
• The Rojiblancos have reached two UEFA Champions League and three UEFA Europa League finals in the last nine seasons.
Juventus
• This is Juventus’s tenth UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie (W6 L3); they have won the last two, defeating Tottenham 12 months ago (2-2 home, 2-1 away).
• Juve’s record in two-legged ties against Spanish clubs is W9 L7; their 2017/18 UEFA Champions League campaign ended in a dramatic quarter-final defeat by Real Madrid (0-3 home, 3-1 away).
• Juventus won their first two away games in this season’s competition, at Valencia (2-0) and Manchester United (1-0) but were beaten 2-1 at Young Boys on matchday six – although they still finished first in Group H.
• That defeat in Switzerland ended Juve’s five-match winning run in UEFA Champions League away matches.
• Away (2-0) and home (1-0) wins against Valencia in this season’s group stage made it three wins in a row against Spanish sides for Juve. The Bianconeri have, however, won on only three of their last nine trips to Spain – albeit both of the last two. Their overall away record against Liga opposition is W6 D6 L16.
• Winners in 1985 and 1996, Juventus have played in nine European Cup finals – losing a record seven, including all of their last five.
Links and trivia
• Simeone played for Pisa, Internazionale and Lazio in Italy. He helped Juventus lift the Serie A title in May 2002 when he scored in Lazio’s 4-2 final-day win against Inter, allowing the Bianconeri to leapfrog Inter at the summit.
• Mandžukić joined Juve from Atlético in 2015. He spent one season in the Spanish capital, scoring 12 times in 28 Liga appearances.
• Cristiano Ronaldo played for Atleti’s city rivals Real Madrid – where he is the all-time leading scorer – between 2009 and 2018, scoring 311 Liga goals in 292 appearances and winning four UEFA Champions League titles. He scored in the 2014 defeat of Atlético and converted the winning penalty in the shoot-out two years later, also scoring a first-leg hat-trick in the 2017 semi-final. Ronaldo faced Atlético 31 times in all competitions, scoring 22 goals (W14 D9 L8).
• Has also played in Spain:
Sami Khedira (Real Madrid 2010–15)
João Cancelo (Valencia 2014–18)
• Khedira was in the Madrid side that beat Atlético in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League final.
• Have played in Italy:
Stefan Savić (Fiorentina 2012–15)
Antonio Adán (Cagliari 2014)
Nikola Kalinić (Fiorentina 2015–17, AC Milan 2017/18)
• Adán made only two appearances for Cagliari, both in January 2014; the second was a 4-1 home defeat against Juventus.
• Jan Oblak was in the Benfica side that lost on penalties to Sevilla in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League final at the Juventus Stadium.
• Antoine Griezmann, Lucas Hernández, Thomas Lemar and Blaise Matuidi were all part of France’s victorious FIFA 2018 World Cup squad. Griezmann converted a penalty and Croatia’s Mandžukić scored at both ends as France won 4-2 in the final.
• Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini and Mattia de Sciglio all started for Italy as they knocked out a Spain team featuring Juanfran from UEFA EURO 2016. Koke and Federico Bernardeschi were unused substitutes.
• International team-mates:
Diego Godín, José María Giménez Rodrigo Bentancur (Uruguay)
Filipe Luís Alex Sandro, Douglas Costa (Brazil)
Santiago Arias Juan Cuadrado (Colombia)
Ángel Correa Paulo Dybala (Argentina)
Gelson Martins Cristiano Ronaldo, João Cancelo (Portugal)
Nikola Kalinić Mario Mandžukić (Croatia)
• Have played together:
Diego Costa, Filipe Luís Juan Cuadrado (Chelsea 2015)
Nikola Kalinić Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina 2015–17)
Stefan Savić Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina 2014/15)
Nikola Kalinić Leonardo Bonucci (AC Milan 2017/18)
Tagged with: betting news • eurpean football • football • footballnews • live sport channels • sport betting • sport odds • teams reviews
