Olympique Lyonnais have struggled against Italian opponents in the past, whilst Juventus love a French opponent in the knockout stages.
Coach Maurizio Sarri has been criticised during his first season in charge of Juventus, but the fact is that he can still achieve what his predecessors at Juventus didn’t manage.
The Bianconeri are currently fighting on all fronts and still have the possibility to emulate Inter’s treble season from 2009-10 in Sarri’s first in charge of the Old Lady.
Olympique Lyonnais have struggled against Italian opponents in the past, whilst Juventus love a French opponent in the knockout stages.
Coach Maurizio Sarri has been criticised during his first season in charge of Juventus, but the fact is that he can still achieve what his predecessors at Juventus didn’t manage.
The Bianconeri are currently fighting on all fronts and still have the possibility to emulate Inter’s treble season from 2009-10 in Sarri’s first in charge of the Old Lady.
But he has some obstacles to lead his team through during the next three months and tonight they continue their adventure so far with a big game in the Champions League against Olympique Lyonnais.
Leonardo Bonucci admitted that Juventus are the favourites to win their two-legged encounter against their French opponent. Ahead of the first leg in the last 16 of the competition, the duo’s records in the tournament consistently point towards another success for La Vecchia Signora.
Lyon have experienced the wrath of the Italian teams in Europe and in both attempts – against Milan and Roma – they were eliminated from the quarter-finals and last 16 respectively.
The home side’s poor record against Italian teams is strengthened by the Old Lady’s form against French opposition, as the Bianconeri have never been knocked out by a Ligue 1 side after four attempts in this phase of the tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo arrived in Turin ahead of last season but didn’t manage to help Massimiliano Allegri reach his ultimate target and despite being the fifth most successful team in Europe, the Champions League continues to elude them for the last 24 years.
Despite not living up to the expectations, Ronaldo gets another chance to take Juve all the way this campaign. He tends to fully blossom during spring and has scored more goals in the knockout stages of the competition than he has in the group stage.
Among the players who have scored 50 goals or more in the Champions League, he is the only one with that feat, as his 65 goals in the elimination phase has surpassed his already incredible statistic of 63 goals in the group stage of the tournament.
But it’s the assists that has made him dangerous against OL, where he has helped his teammates score four times, a tally that he hasn’t been able to better against any other opponent in the prestigious tournament.
Lyon welcome the Italian league leaders with the worst record– tied with Atalanta – among the remaining teams in the Champions League and are facing a Juventus side eager to amend the hiccup from last year’s away loss to Atletico Madrid in the round of 16.
Rudi Garcia knows that he will have to pick up Lyon’s first ever win against Juventus and can take confidence from having beaten the Bianconeri in a cup competition during his time at Roma.
Garcia’s Giallorossi won 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia against Juventus in 2013-14, whilst he also picked up a 2-1 win in his last meeting with the Old Lady.