AS Monaco FC have lost twice to Juventus in the UEFA Champions League, and will look to take a significant step towards improving that record when they welcome opponents who have never lost a two-legged tie to French opposition.
• One of Monaco’s three previous UEFA Champions League semi-finals ended in defeat against Juventus, although the Ligue 1 side did win the home second leg.
• Monaco are aiming to reach the final for the second time, having got that far in 2003/04 – their last semi-final appearance. Juventus were last in this stage two seasons ago, when they went on to make the final; they are targeting a ninth European Cup final.
Previous meetings
• Monaco and Juventus have previous in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, the Bianconeri winning 6-4 on aggregate in 1997/98, en route to losing to Real Madrid CF in the final. In the first leg, Marcello Lippi’s Juventus triumphed 4-1 at the Stadio Delle Alpi where Alessandro Del Piero hit a hat-trick (including two penalties) and Zinédine Zidane added a late fourth.
• Jean Tigana’s Monaco edged the second leg 3-2, their scorers including Thierry Henry, who joined Juventus for an eight-month spell the following year.
• The line-ups at Stade Louis II on 15 April 1998 were:
Monaco: Barthez, Diawara, Djetou, Christanval, Léonard (Sagnol 65), Martin, Benarbia, Collins, Ikpeba (Spehar 69), Trezeguet, Henry.
Juventus: Peruzzi, Torricelli, Birindelli, Iuliano, Dimas, Conte, Tacchinardi, Zidane (Pecchia 59), Pessotto, Del Piero, Inzaghi (Amoruso 5; Davids 71).
• Massimiliano Allegri’s Juve also beat Monaco, coached then as now by Leonardo Jardím, in the 2014/15 quarter-finals, Arturo Vidal’s 57th-minute spot kick in the first leg in Turin the only goal of the tie.
• The teams for the goalless draw at the Stade Louis II on 22 April 2015 were:
Monaco: Subašić, Raggi, Fabinho, Abdennour, Kurzawa, João Moutinho, Bernardo Silva, Kondogbia, Toulalan (Berbatov 46), Carrasco (Carvalho 87), Martial (Germain 76).
Juventus: Buffon, Lichtsteiner, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra (Padoin 89), Marchisio, Pirlo, Vidal (Pereyra 77), Morata (Llorente 69), Tévez.
Match background
Monaco
• Monaco are in their fourth European Cup semi-final, and their first since 2004, when they beat Chelsea FC 5-3 on aggregate (3-1 h, 2-2 a).
• Monaco have never won away in the European Cup semi-finals (D1 L2). They lost 3-0 at AC Milan in a one-off tie in 1993/94 and 4-1 at Juventus in 1997/98, before that 2-2 draw at Chelsea in 2003/04.
• In contrast, the Ligue 1 club have won both their home games in European Cup semi-finals.
• The full list of Monaco’s semi-finals is as follows:
1993/94 AC Milan L 0-3 (0-3 a)
1997/98 Juventus L 4-6 (1-4 a, 3-2 h)
2003/04 Chelsea FC W 5-3 (3-1 h, 2-2 a)
• Jardím’s team have won six of their seven home matches in this 2016/17 UEFA Champions League, the exception a 1-1 draw with Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the group stage. They have managed 16 goals in those seven fixtures.
• Monaco have scored in all but one of their 14 games in this season’s competition, only drawing a blank in a 3-0 matchday six defeat at Leverkusen.
• The Ligue 1 team have won three of their six games at home to Italian visitors, drawing two. The sole home defeat came in Monaco’s first tie against an Italian club, FC Internazionale Milano winning 3-1 in the 1963/64 European Champion Clubs’ Cup first round second leg for a 4-1 aggregate victory.
• Monaco’s record in two-legged ties against Serie A opposition is W1 L6. The lone success came against AS Roma in the 1991/92 European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-finals (1-0 on aggregate). Their goalless draw in Rome that season was the only time they have avoided defeat in seven trips to Italy (W0 D1 L6 F2 A14).
• Aside from their UEFA Champions League reverses against Juve and AC Milan, Monaco also lost to Inter in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup semi-finals (1-3 a, 1-0 h) and UC Sampdoria in the last four of the 1989/90 European Cup Winners’ Cup (2-2 h, 0-2 a).
Juventus
• This is only Juve’s second UEFA Champions League semi-final appearance since 2003, although it is their second in three years – in 2014/15 they beat Real Madrid 3-2 on aggregate (2-1 h, 1-1 a).
• Juventus’ record in European Cup semi-final ties is W8 L3:
1967/68 SL Benfica L 0-3 (0-2 a, 0-1 h)
1972/73 Derby County FC W 3-1 (3-1 h, 0-0 a)
1977/78 Club Brugge KV L 1-2 (1-0 h, 0-2 a)
1982/83 Widzew Łódź W 4-2 (2-0 h, 2-2 a)
1984/85 FC Girondins de Bordeaux W 3-2 (3-0 h, 0-2 a)
1995/96 FC Nantes W 4-3 (2-0 h, 2-3 a)
1996/97 AFC Ajax W 6-2 (2-1 a, 4-1 h)
1997/98 AS Monaco FC W 6-4 (4-1 h, 2-3 a)
1998/99 Manchester United FC L 3-4 (1-1 a, 2-3 h)
2002/03 Real Madrid CF W 4-3 (1-2 a, 3-1 h)
2014/15 Real Madrid CF W 3-2 (2-1 h, 1-1 a)
• Juve’s away record in European Cup semi-finals is W1 D4 L6 – the sole victory came at Ajax in 1996/97 (2-1).
• Juve have won the home leg in all but two of their 11 European Cup semi-finals (W9 L2).
• The Bianconeri are yet to concede a goal in four knockout matches in this season’s competition.
• Juventus have won four and drawn the other of their five away fixtures in this season’s competition. They have kept four clean sheets on their travels, including a 0-0 draw at FC Barcelona in their quarter-final second leg, shipping only one goal and scoring ten. They also equalled their biggest UEFA Champions League away victory on matchday two with a 4-0 triumph at GNK Dinamo Zagreb.
• Allegri’s team have already won in France this term, beating Olympique Lyonnais 1-0 on matchday three thanks to a Juan Cuadrado goal. The game in Turin finished 1-1.
• Juve are unbeaten in six meetings with French sides, home and away, since a 2-0 loss at FC Girondins de Bordeaux in the 2009/10 group stage. Their record since is W4 L2.
• Juve’s record away to French clubs in European competition is W5 D3 L5; they have lost just one of their last five visits.
• The Italian team have won all 11 of their two-legged contests against Ligue 1 opposition.
• Juventus have won four semi-finals against French opponents in UEFA competition. Aside from their 1998 triumph over Monaco, they beat FC Nantes at the same stage of the 1995/96 UEFA Champions League (2-0 h, 2-3 a) and Bordeaux in 1984/85 (3-0 h, 0-2 a) and got the better of Paris Saint-Germain in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup (2-1 h, 1-0 a).
• The Bianconeri are on a 22-match (W13 D9) unbeaten home run in UEFA competition, dating back to a 2-0 reversal against FC Bayern München in April 2013.
Coach and player links
• Allegri’s first game as a coach in UEFA competition was against Ligue 1 opposition – a 2-0 home win against AJ Auxerre with AC Milan in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League group stage. Milan also prevailed 2-0 in France.
• Morgan De Sanctis was at Juventus between 1997 and 1999, making three Serie A appearances. He also played for Udinese Calcio, Roma and SSC Napoli in Serie A.
• Andrea Raggi began his career in the Italian fourth division with Carrarese Calcio, the team Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon supports and also owned between 2012 and 2015. In Serie A, Raggi turned out for US Città di Palermo, Sampdoria, Bologna FC and AS Bari.
• Raggi and Kamil Glik played for Bari in 2010/11, replacing Leonardo Bonucci who had transferred to Juve in summer 2010.
• Glik joined Juventus’s local rivals Torino FC in summer 2011, playing in nine Turin derbies (eight in Serie A and one in the Coppa Italia). He lost eight of those games, but helped Torino to a 2-1 victory on 26 April 2015.
• Have played in France:
Miralem Pjanić, FC Metz 2006–08, Olympique Lyonnais 2008–11
Mario Lemina, FC Lorient 2010–13, Olympique de Marseille 2013–15
Medhi Benatia, Tours FC 2006/07, FC Lorient 2007/08, Clermont Foot 63 2008–10
Stephan Lichtsteiner, LOSC Lille, 2005–08
• Former club-mates:
Morgan De Sanctis Miralem Pjanić (AS Roma 2013–16)
Andrea Raggi Claudio Marchisio (Empoli FC 2007/08)
Radamel Falcao Gonzalo Higuaín (CA River Plate 2005–07)
Benjamin Mendy Mario Lemina (Olympique Marseille 2013–15)
Falcao Alex Sandro (FC Porto 2011)
João Moutinho Alex Sandro (FC Porto 2011–13)
Fabinho Gonzalo Higuaín (Real Madrid CF 2012/13)
• International team-mates:
Falcao Juan Cuadrado (Colombia)
Nabil Dirar Medhi Benatia (Morocco)
Danijel Subašić Mario Mandžukić, Marko Pjaca (Croatia)
Dani Alves Fabinho (Brazil)
• France’s 1998 FIFA World Cup winners David Trezeguet, Lilian Thuram and Henry played for both clubs, as did Patrice Evra.
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