Juventus will again be banking on their impressive home form as they look to build on a fine away win to record their third two-legged victory against AS Monaco FC and reach a second UEFA Champions League final in three years.
• The Bianconeri are within touching distance of a place in the Cardiff final after Dani Alves twice set up Gonzalo Higuaín to clinch a 2-0 semi-final first-leg victory.
• Juve have won all 11 two-legged ties against French sides, including against Monaco in both the 1997/98 UEFA Champions League semi-finals and the 2014/15 quarter-finals. The latter campaign witnessed their last appearance in the last four; the Bianconeri are now aiming for a ninth European Cup final.
• Monaco, who have never won in Italy in seven trips, losing all but one, are hoping to reach the final for a second time having got that far in 2003/04 – their last semi-final appearance.
• Only twice in UEFA Champions League history have a team overturned a first-leg home defeat to win the tie, and both lost the first game 0-1: AFC Ajax against Panathinaikos FC in the 1995/96 semis (0-1 home, 3-0 away) and FC Internazionale Milano against FC Bayern München in the 2010/11 round of 16 (0-1 home, 3-2 away).
Previous meetings
• Monaco and Juventus have previous in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, the Bianconeri prevailing 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 won 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.
• The line-ups in Turin on 1 April 1998 were:
Juventus: Peruzzi, Torricelli (Conte 59), Montero, Iuliano, Pessotto (Birindelli 46), Di Livio (Tacchinardi 66), Davids, Deschamps, Zidane, Del Piero, Inzaghi.
Monaco: Barthez, Sagnol, Konjić, Christanval, Martin (Henry 68), Djetou, Diawara, Pignol (Costinha 38), Benarbia (Carnot 74), Ikpeba, Trezeguet.
• 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.
• Massimiliano Allegri’s Juve also beat Monaco, coached then as now by Leonardo Jardim, in the 2014/15 quarter-finals, Arturo Vidal’s 57th-minute penalty in the first leg in Turin the only goal of the tie.
• The teams for the first leg at the Juventus Stadium on 14 April 2015 were:
Juventus: Buffon, Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra, Marchisio, Pirlo (Barzagli 74), Vidal, Pereyra (Sturaro 87), Morata (Matri 83), Tévez.
Monaco: Subašić, Raggi (Berbatov 71), Fabinho, R Carvalho, Abdennour, Kurzawa, João Moutinho, Dirar (Bernardo Silva 51), Kondogbia, Carrasco, Martial (M Carvalho 87).
Match background
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 have won the home leg in all but two of their 11 European Cup semi-finals (W9 L2).
• Juve are yet to concede a goal in five knockout games in this season’s competition.
• Allegri’s team have already encountered French opposition this season, drawing 1-1 at home to Olympique Lyonnais on matchday four. They had won 1-0 in France thanks to a Juan Cuadrado goal.
• Juve are unbeaten in seven matches against 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 W5 L2.
• The Italian outfit have won all 11 of their two-legged contests against Ligue 1 opponents. There are also unbeaten in home games (W10 D3).
• Juventus have won four semi-finals against French clubs in UEFA competition. Aside from their 1998 success 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 reverse against FC Bayern München in April 2013.
• Juventus have won three – the last three – of their five home fixtures in this season’s competition, drawing the other two, and conceding just one goal. Against FC Barcelona in the quarter-finals, they won 3-0 in the Turin first leg, going through by the same aggregate score.
• Juventus have kept clean sheets in seven of their last nine European home games.
• Juve have won all 37 of the UEFA competition ties in which they triumphed in the first leg away from home, most recently against FC Porto in this season’s round of 16 (2-0 away, 1-0 home).
• Indeed, only twice have they lost at home after an away victory: against Hamburger SV in the 1989/90 UEFA Cup quarter-finals (0-2 second leg, 3-2 on aggregate) and versus Olympiacos FC in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup third round (1-2 second leg, 4-3 on aggregate).
• The Italian team’s shoot-out record is W3 L3:
2-3 v AC Milan, 2002/03 UEFA Champions League final
4-2 v AFC Ajax, 1995/96 UEFA Champions League final
1-3 v Real Madrid CF, 1986/87 European Cup second round
4-2 v Argentinos Juniors, 1985 European/South American Cup final
1-4 v Widzew Łódź, 1980/81 UEFA Cup second round
3-0 v Ajax, 1977/78 European Cup quarter-final
Monaco
• Monaco are in their fourth European Cup semi-final, and their first since 2004 when they overcame 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 1995/96, before that 2-2 draw at Chelsea in 2003/04.
• 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)
• Monaco have scored in all but two of their 15 games in this term’s competition, only drawing a blank in the Juve first leg and the 3-0 matchday six defeat at Leverkusen.
• The Ligue 1 outfit have won three of their seven away matches in the current campaign, the 3-2 success at Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-final first leg ending a two-game away losing streak.
• Monaco’s record in two-legged ties against Serie A opponents is W1 L5, not including that one-off tie with Milan in 1994. The solitary triumph 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 defeats by 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).
• Monaco have lost all five UEFA competition ties in which they lost the home first leg, most recently against Leeds United AFC in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup first round (0-3 home, 1-0 away). That is also the only time in which they won the away match following a home defeat.
• Monaco’s penalty shoot-out record in UEFA competitions reads W1 L0:
3-1 v Real Valladolid, 1989/90 European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final
Coach and player links
• Allegri’s first match as a coach in UEFA competition was against Ligue 1 opposition – a 2-0 home win against AJ Auxerre with 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 moved 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 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.
Match facts
Juventus
• Sami Khedira is available after serving a one-match ban in the first leg.
• Juventus have lost only one of their last 23 fixtures, winning 18 of them.*
• The first leg with Monaco was Juve’s sixth successive clean sheet in the UEFA Champions League; the competition record is ten, set by Arsenal FC in 2005/06. The 621 minutes Juve have gone without conceding is the fifth longest streak in the competition’s history; again Arsenal lead the way (995 minutes).
• Eleven different players have found the target for Juventus in the UEFA Champions League this season.
• Juventus have won 33 consecutive home matches in Serie A, keeping clean sheets in the last four.*
• The Bianconeri have kept six clean sheets in their last seven matches in all competitions.*
• Juventus have conceded two goals at home only twice in their last 55 matches: against Bayern München in last season’s UEFA Champions League round of 16 (2-2) and Atalanta BC in the Coppa Italia on 11 January this year (3-2).*
• Winners of the last two editions of the Coppa Italia, the Old Lady will play SS Lazio in the final. It is scheduled for 2 June, but if Juve reach the Cardiff final it will be brought forward to 17 May.
• Marko Pjaca will miss the rest of the campaign after tearing knee ligaments on international duty with Croatia in March.
• On 21 April, Juventus agreed a €9.5m deal to sign Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, 19, from Boca Juniors until 2022.
Monaco
• The first leg ended Monaco’s 13-match winning streak at the Stade Louis II.
• Monaco have won 13 of their last 16 games. The exceptions were the first leg with Juve and two losses to Paris Saint-Germain – 4-1 in the French League Cup final on 1 April and 5-0 in the French Cup semi-finals on 26 April.*
• Kylian Mbappé has registered 18 goals in his last 19 appearances for Monaco.*
• Monaco have scored two or more goals in six of their last eight away games. Jardim’s team have scored two or more in 15 away games this season, although only six of those matches ended in a result that would be enough for them at Juve.*
• Monaco have kept only six clean sheets in 28 away games in all competitions this season, with two in their last five fixtures.*
• The 5-0 loss to Paris halted a run of 29 matches in which Monaco had scored at least once. They have now drawn a blank in two of their last three fixtures.*
*Subject to weekend updates
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