Re: Juventus 2017/2018 Champions League Winners Thread

[Luca]

Dybala cucked his way against securing a draw to Lazio this season on the final kick of the match and then against Atalanta to secure the win. Those 4 points would have come in handy right about now but that is neither here nor there.

Anyways, the penalty part was for comic relief but I truthfully would sometimes rather us not get a blatant penalty call and watch our players get fired up and play harder than watch us receive the call and miss the penalty and deflate.

How good is Bernardeschi at winning penalties though?

[Warrior]

My bad it's Higuain who missed only once with Juve. Dybala missed twice with Juve, the other was at Palermo back in 2014.

According to transfermarkt the best penalty stats are Bernardeschi, Pjanic and Dybala in this respective order. Sadly "Bern" is not a sure starter yet so i don't expect him as PK taker.

[Luca]

Higuain is back

I'd like to see an attack around Douglas-Higuain-DybaLAAAAAA

[rincon]

Higuain, Mandzukic and De Sciglio trained regularly with the team today so there is hope that may be available to start tomorrow.

I think most of the team should be fixed with Matuidi, Pjanic, Khedira, Chiellini, Benatia, Sandro, Dybala playing. Costa probably too. I think if De Sciglio isn't fit (he probably isn't) Barzagli will start over Licht to give his usual RB/CB role.

I imagine something like this.

Higuain
Dybala
Matuidi - Pjanic - Khedira - Costa
Sandro - Chiellini - Benatia - Barzagli
Buffon

Attacking like

Higuain
Sandro    -    Dybala    -    Costa
Matuidi - Pjanic - Khedira
Chiellini - Benatia - Barzagli
Buffon

[Luca]

I'd be ok with that line up.. I'm so excited for this match

[rincon]

Mandzukic didn't recover and missed the call up

1 Buffon
2 De Sciglio
3 Chiellini
4 Benatia
5 Pjanic
6 Khedira
8 Marchisio
9 Higuain
10 Dybala
11 Douglas Costa
12 Alex Sandro
14 Matuidi
15 Barzagli
16 Pinsoglio
22 Asamoah
23 Szczesny
24 Rugani
26 Lichtsteiner
27 Sturaro
30 Bentancur
32 Del Favero

There's a hypothesis from tuttojuve that given the fitness of players, Allegri is debating between 4-3-3 and 3-5-2.

In the later case Max may choose to pack the midfield with... Sturaro!

It would be the lineup I posted before but with Sturaro as a RWB in place of Costa. With Costa on the bench as our only attacking sub to make an impact later on.

[Luca]

Imagine not starting Costa in a game like this

WATTBA

[marottalad]

SURELY we just sit back and try and get a goal on the counter and keep it tight would be criminal to leave costa or dybala on the bench. Matuidi and Dybala in and we are like a different team. on a side note so glad to see mandzukic out therefore we are forced to not use a static player on the wings.

[rincon]

Allegri said we are different team and need a different match so we will not be playing like against Bayern (counter). That will be playing with more possession.

He said that Higuain and Dybala will play. That Costa may play, he didn't say it one way or another. That if Costa plays he may sacrifice a midfielder.

[Warrior]

Let's hope Khedira is the one to be sacrificed on the J-Altar

[juvealbanian]

What a match...yeah we didn't play great but scoring 2 out of 2 attempts (or 3 max) shows who was the great team between us and Spurs.

[salmano9]

Kwadwo! This guy is impressing me... I have been wanting to say that recently, and this is the perfect time! He deserves a new contract. I think he really has improved since his injury days! FJ!

[marottalad]

I sort of expected us to scrape through because we have just too much quality up front. Expect us to get smashed against the big boys though and thats our fault for not filling the squad with good enough players while everyone else improved.

I feel this summer is the summer that will set the trend at Juventus for the next few years or even decade. We decide are we gonna be apart of the elite or the new arsenal, dortmund,atletico and just be happy with making the KO rounds every year.

I am honestly not confident we are ambitious enough to keep this run in europe going every year of making it far because we don't give allegri and marotta enough resources. prove me wrong Juventus because I wanna win the CL

[Luca]

We've been part of the elite for the last 4 years or so brother

Literally read the same stuff every summer, it just doesn't hold any weight. Each summer I hear about how we get worse, sold Vidal, were going to get worse, sold Pogba, were finished, sold Bonucci, its over.

Every season

Yet here we are. The only time we'll suffer is when real personalities leave the club- Buffon, Chiellini, Barzagli, Lichtsteiner even, these are losses to mourn because they represent the intangibles that take decades to find and become priceless assets for season after season.

It's not about having the best squad or 11 world class players for 11 positions, it's really not about that. We obviously need a top midfielder but apart from that, were looking pretty good in an unprecedented run of success.

Even if we lost today, I would maintain the same stance. You can't change history on a single moment like this or a lost final. Imagine we won the CL last season but then went out today in the round of 16, would that somehow make things better? No, absolutely not. We would still be devastated for losing and rightfully so.

Cycles end, players retire, leave, get hurt, new ones come in, managers change, sponsors, rivals sometimes even but were in a very good spot. Chin up, we actually won today brother

[marottalad]

I read everything you said but I believe there needs to be a balance of talent and having experienced winners in the squad. A few new affordable additions while selling fringe players and we are just as good as Barca madrid bayern i honestly believe that

[Luca]

That I agree with but I already think we’re there. We do have a very good squad as it is, an excellent manager and we’re very consistent.

I’m praying we sign a top midfielder this summer though. Jorginho, Verratti or Sergej would be my dream signings (1 of, I’m realistic in my dreams)

[marottalad]

That I agree with but I already think we’re there. We do have a very good squad as it is, an excellent manager and we’re very consistent.

I’m praying we sign a top midfielder this summer though. Jorginho, Verratti or Sergej would be my dream signings (1 of, I’m realistic in my dreams)

Honestly dude a midfield of Can Pjanic and Matuidi can take us all the way because of our quality over the rest of the park assuming spinazzola and darmian are coming lol

[rincon]

The QF will be 3/4 of april and 10/11 again. Luckily this time we have Benevento between the matches so that's as good as possible. There is Milan before the first leg and Sampdoria after the second so there is a big risk of dropping points there. Still, with the Benevento buffer I think it looks ok.

Madrid, City, Liverpool, Bayern, United/Sevilla, Roma/Shaktar, Barca/Chelsea

Most look manageable imo

[S]

Except Barca, Bayern and Madrid, i would agree.

I know we do well over two legs against Madrid but this is not the same team as last year. Midfield is still a huge problem as we stand. Need Allegri to use our depth and make some critical adjustments if we are to beat any of these elite teams. Players like Khedira , Barzagli and even Buffon are going to get exposed against better teams. Buffon i have given up on since i dont see Szczesny getting a chance ahead of him in CL this year(which he should imo).

If Cuadrado is available, this is what i'd like to see us play :

Buffon
De Sciglio-Benatia-Chiellini-Asamoah
Cuadrado-Pjanic-Matuidi-Sandro
Dybala-Higuain

Cuadrado gives us that balance to our formation both offensively and defensively. We miss him badly atm.

[rincon]

I'm pro Cuadrado, he is huge, so I agree with your formation. I don't know if he will be back in time, maybe second leg? He'd be one for the semifinals if we make it probably.

If we say that we aren't the same team as last year then we must also say that Madrid aren't either. I'm confident. Remember Spurs beat them 3-1 in Wembley and they drop points against every other team in Spain. It'd be fine, we can lose ofc but I don't see us at a disadvantage vs them.

Barca are always a problem because of Messi, I see them as favorites. Anyone but them I think we are at least 50/50. With Barca more like 40/60.

[juvealbanian]

What do you think about the CHL draw vs. Real guys?

Even if we play first game at home without Pjanic & Benatia I think it will be very hard to deal with them.
We'll have to do a great work as a team defensively and rely on counters.Hopefully our attacking duo HD and Costa will be on top form and maybe Berna or Cuadrado can get back from injuries.

Even a minimal victory would be huge for us on first match.The good thing is that the team is peaking at the right time.

[Luca]

I think its a tough, special, but winnable draw

Forget history, last season or the one before, I just believe in our team.

I don't believe we can stop them from scoring but I do know that we can also score against them.

No Pjanic hurts more than Benatia, who is still a big miss too, but hopefully we get it right in Torino. Maybe we can squeeze out a proper match from Marchisio, should he feature. We definitely need some passing in the midfield.

Hopefully we has as many of our players fit as possible and we can just go for the best and fight until the end

[lucianomoggi]

i think Pjanic is one of our best players helping us win Serie A however, when it comes to very big games the ones like against R Madrid, Bayern, Barcelona I would not really play Pjanic,

these kind of games i believe are extremely depended on a good defense and quick counter attacks and i dont think Pjanic adds too much on that he is more like a player who can help you win a slow pace Serie A but not UCL

players like Dybala, Cuadrado, Costa can run better with the ball and improve our counter attack

[Luca]

Juventus fans are concerned after news Sami Khedira limped off with a knee injury while playing for Germany against Spain.

The veteran midfielder was the captain in tonight’s friendly match, but was forced off the field after 52 minute

[Warrior]

Well *bleep* me. How many injuries do we have ? Not that Khedira was that good this season but he's still better than nothing. And very important games in Serie A and CL are incoming...

Time to use our joker card

Spoiler:

[Warrior]

DOUGLAS-HIGUAIN-DYBALA
MATUIDI-MANDZUKIC
MARCHISIO
ASAMOAH-RUGANI-BARZAGLI-MDS
SZESZNY

ftw !!!

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