Atletico Madrid will be looking to join Juventus in the last-16 stage of the Champions League when the Spanish giants travel to Turin on Tuesday night.
Juve have already booked their spot in the next stage having collected 10 points from their four fixtures to date, while a win for Atletico would see them advance to the round of 16 with a match to spare.
Juventus
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Three wins and a draw have seen Juve collect 10 points from their four Group D matches this season, which is already enough to advance to the round of 16 ahead of their final two fixtures in the section.
Maurizio Sarri's side opened their European season with a 2-2 draw at Atletico on September 18 before recording a 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen to move onto four points. The Old Lady have beaten Lokomotiv Moscow 2-1 in their last two matches, meanwhile, to breeze into the next round of the competition.
Juve will make sure of first spot in the section with a win on Tuesday night, although a defeat would open the door for second-placed Atletico ahead of the final set of fixtures. Sarri's team are actually yet to lose a single match this season, with their last defeat coming against Sampdoria on the final weekend of last season.
That is not to say that the Italians have been excellent throughout the early stages of the 2019-20 campaign, but they will enter this match off the back of five straight wins in all competitions; two of those have come in Serie A, following up a 1-0 success over AC Milan by beating Atalanta BC on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed out for Juve at the weekend through injury, but Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala were both on the scoresheet in what was a very impressive 3-1 win for the Italian champions.
A troublesome knee problem has harmed Ronaldo in recent weeks, although the Portugal international has reportedly trained ahead of Tuesday's affair and will be available should Sarri wish to recall him.
Incredibly, Juve have lost seven of their nine European Cup finals, including each of their last five. Not since 1996 have the Serie A giants won this competition, which is staggering considering their talent. It would be fair to say that Ronaldo was signed with the view to triumphing in this competition, but Ajax dumped them out of last season's tournament in the quarter-finals.
Juve have won four of their last six matches against Spanish opposition home and away, though, and will be confident of securing the result that they need in order to make sure of first position in the section.
Recent form: DWWWW
Recent form (all competitions): DWWWWW
Atletico Madrid
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It would be a surprise if Atletico failed to qualify for the last-16 stage of the competition from this position, although a defeat on Tuesday evening would leave them extremely vulnerable in the section.
Diego Simeone's side are four points clear of both Lokomotiv and Leverkusen in Group D, but a defeat in Turin coupled with a win for either of the two other teams would make things very interesting on the final matchday.
Atletico took seven points from their first three matches against Juve, Lokomotiv and Leverkusen, but the capital giants suffered a 2-1 loss in Germany earlier this month to leave things uncertain.
Simeone's team are only three points off the top of La Liga as things stand, but it has been a strange season for the club thus far. They have only won one of their last five matches in all competitions and were held to a 1-1 draw by Granada in the league on Saturday evening.
Only on two occasions in their last nine matches have they managed to score more than one goal, but the Spanish side will bring a strong European record into Tuesday's match having only lost four of their last 26 matches in continental competition.
Los Rojiblancos have reached two Champions League and three Europa League finals in the last 10 seasons, but they were knocked out of last season's competition in the round of 16 by Juve despite winning 2-0 at home.
Atletico actually lead the head-to-head record two wins to Juve's one, although a team struggling for goals will surely find it difficult to overcome one of Europe's outstanding sides.
Simeone will be hoping that his team's character shines through on Tuesday evening as there is little doubting that the Spanish outfit will give up a lot to the home side when it comes to overall quality, particularly in attack.
Recent form: DWWL
Recent form (all competitions): WDDLWD
Team News
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As mentioned, Ronaldo missed out against Atalanta due to an ongoing knee problem, but the attacker is expected to return to the Juve XI for Tuesday's European affair.
Douglas Costa has been ruled out of the match with a thigh injury, though, while Matthijs de Ligt is also highly unlikely to feature having suffered a dislocated shoulder against Atalanta.
Giorgio Chiellini's absence means that Daniele Rugani could play alongside Leonardo Bonucci in central defence, although Alex Sandro should boost the Italians with a return.
Federico Bernardeschi is also expected to be fit despite Juve revealing that the attacker suffered a bruised chest during Saturday's Serie A affair, but Adrien Rabiot remains a doubt with an adductor issue.
Atletico remain without the services of central defenders Stefan Savic and Jose Gimenez through injury, while Diego Costa will be out until 2020 after undergoing a neck operation.
Saul Niguez and Thomas Partey are both available having missed the Granada clash through suspension, though, and the pair are expected to return to the Atletico midfield.
Angel Correa could join Alvaro Morata in the final third of the field, while Kieran Trippier is expected to be given the nod over Santiago Arias at right-back.
Atletico were boosted by the return of Joao Felix off the bench at the weekend, although the attacker's recent ankle problem means that he is unlikely to start Tuesday's game.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Cuadrado, Rugani, Bonucci, Sandro; Khedira, Pjanic, Matuidi; Bernardeschi; Higuain, Ronaldo
Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:
Oblak; Trippier, Felipe, Hermoso, Lodi; Koke, Saul, Thomas, Lemar; Correa, Morata
Head To Head
As mentioned, Atletico lead the head-to-head record two wins to Juve's one, while there have also been two draws from the five previous meetings between the two teams.
Juve's sole win came during the home leg of last season's last-16 clash, but Atletico did pick up a point when they travelled to Turin during the group stages of the 2014-15 competition.
We say: Juventus 2-0 Atletico Madrid
Atletico must be respected due to their standing on the European stage, but it is difficult to predict anything other than a home win on Tuesday night when taking everything into consideration. We fully expect Juve to pick up all three points, which might well leave Atletico vulnerable in the section.
Matt Law
