Lucescu: Juve will reach CL Final

Shakhtar Donetsk boss Mircea Lucescu has backed Juventus to reach the Champions League Final in 2013-14.

“Juventus were already a strong side,” the former Inter tactician commented. “Now the squad has been strengthened and completed with the likes of Carlos Tevez.

“They have Antonio Conte on the bench, who is a great, and I have complimented him on the work he has done in Turin so far.

“In my opinion, Juventus will be playing in the 2014 Champions League Final.”

Lucescu’s Shakhtar were paired with the Old Lady in the group stages of last season’s tournament. They drew in Turin, but the Italians won in the Ukraine.

Juventus have been placed in Group B this season with Real Madrid, Galatasaray and Copenhagen.

Shakhtar will play Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen and Real Sociedad in Group A.

I agree. Juve and Dortmund are the favourites for me.

Every other club has changed managers.

This would be a good thread to add this actually



Wenger: Juventus are Champions League contenders

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists Juventus should be considered contenders for this season's Champions League and says Italian clubs have caught up with the rest of Europe.

The Old Lady were relegated to Serie B in 2006 for their part in the Calciopoli scandal, but have since returned to the top of Italian football – winning the Scudetto for the past two seasons.










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16/1

Juventus are 16/1 with Bet365 to win the Champions League this season


Antonio Conte's men also made it to quarter-final of last season's Champions League, where they were defeated 4-0 by eventual winners Bayern Munich, but Wenger expects them to be stronger this term.

"Whoever puts Juventus among the possible surprises for the next Champions League is wrong, because Juve is not a surprise, but a strong team, which has come back to the top after a few years," Wenger told Corriere dello Sport.

"Juve can do great things, also I think the distance between the top clubs in Europe and the Italian teams has closed."

Benitez and Guardiola won CL in their first season as managers of their respective clubs though.