Juventus vs Borussia Dortmund preview

February 23, 2015
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Juventus vs AtleticoHaving finally secured their progress to the Champions League knockout stages, Serie A champions Juventus will be eager to grab this tie by the scruff of neck by winning the first leg.

Borussia Dortmund go into the match in great spirits with three straight Bundesliga wins helping them escape the danger zone.

While Juventus returned to being the dominant force in Italian Serie A by winning three straight titles, the Bianconeri have yet to achieve Champions League success.

After crashing out in the quarter-finals the previous year, the Old Lady were eliminated in group stage last term, and they had to work hard for a Last 16 berth this season.

Meanwhile, they opened up a nine-point lead at the top of the league standings and can now shirt their focus back to the European campaign.

Juventus will not have an easy task against revived Borussia Dortmund, but they have been made 2.10 (11/10) favourites to win the first leg.

Coach Max Allegri has received some great news as key midfielder Arturo Vidal has recovered from a knee injury and he is expected to start.

Kwadwo Asamoah remains on the sidelines, while Alvaro Morata should be preferred to compatriot Fernando Llorente to partner Carlos Tevez.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-1-2): Buffon – Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra – Marchisio, Pirlo, Pogba – Vidal – Tevez, Morata.

Had this match been played mere few weeks ago, Juventus would have been considered hot favourites to go through, but a lot has changed since for Borussia Dortmund.

The Millionaires were deep in the Bundesliga relegation zone having failed to score in two matches in 2015, and the players were completely out of confidence.

However, the impressive away win over Freiburg changed everything and Borussia went on to win two more league matches to climb away from the danger zone.

The timing of the good run was just perfect as the Millionaires are set to resume their Champions League campaign and they can be backed at 2.00 (1/1) to pip Juve to a quarter-final berth.

Jurgen Klopp will have stopper Mats Hummels back to the side, but winger Jakub Blaszczykowski is doubtful with a bout of flu.

Kevin Grosskreutz, Sebastian Kehl, Sven Bender and Erik Durm are expected to miss out, while Ciro Immobile could play a part.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Weidenfeller – Piszczek, Hummels, Subotic, Schmelzer – Sahin, Gundogan – Aubameyang, Kagawa, Reus – Immobile.

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