Juventus legend Pavel Nedved and manager Massimiliano Allegri had a lot to say after drawing Real Madrid in the last eight of the Champions League.
The Bianconeri have been in fine form and are among the favorites to win their seventh Serie A title in a row, but they do face stiff competition from second-placed Napoli with Maurizio Sari’s men looking to win their first title since the 1989/90 season. However, Juventus do sit at the top of the table with 74 points over Napoli who have 70 points having played 28 games.
But with Juventus dominating Tottenham at Wembley stadium in the second leg of their Champions League clash, Allegri’s men have booked themselves a place in the quarter-finals, alongside Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Liverpool. But having been tied against Real Madrid, in what will be a repeat of last year’s final, Massimiliano Allegri had a lot to say about the Los Blancos.
“Juventus against Real Madrid will be an eye-catching game, these are the type of matches that we work towards,” Allegri went on to say in a conference. “Last year in the quarter-finals we beat Barcelona, maybe this year we will beat Real Madrid. They are the favourites to win the Champions League, so if we can beat them it would be fantastic.
However, we must focus first on the task at hand, which is SPAL [on Saturday]. After that we have the [international] break, then we have AC Milan, which at the moment is not an easy opponent, then we will think about Real Madrid.”
OFFICIAL: @ChampionsLeague Quarter-Finals:
Barcelona vs Roma
Sevilla vs Bayern Munich
Juventus vs Real Madrid
Man City vs Liverpool pic.twitter.com/HFQrMvsKId
— SPORF (@Sporf) March 16, 2018
Meanwhile, former Juventus Legend Pavel Nedved believes that the two-legs gives Juventus an advantage despite two key players suspended for the first leg. The last time the Serie A and the La Liga giants faced head-on, Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals and the Spanish side became the first club in history to defend a Champions League crown.
“I don’t think the two teams will be influenced by the result of last season’s final,” the Juventus’ vice-president said. “This is a different kind of game, we will play over 180 minutes. I think we can cause them trouble even if we know there will be many difficulties for us, including two of our important players being suspended for the first leg.”
Author’s take:
It will certainly be interested watching Juventus take on Real Madrid, especially since the Binaconeri have a point to prove after last year’s final. However, given their season so far so does Real Madrid, with Zinedine Zidane’s job on the line aside from the club’s pride and honor.
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