Preview: Celta Vigo vs Juventus - prediction, team news, lineups

After laying down a marker on matchday one, Juventus will look to extend their sharp start in this season's Europa League, as the Italian giants visit Celta Vigo on Thursday night.

While Juve were busy netting five goals on home turf, Celta lost 1-0 in Nicosia; however, the hosts are usually much tougher to beat at Estadio Balaidos.

Match preview

Due to a costly collapse at the end of last term - taking just five points from their final five games - Juventus failed to make the top four in Serie A and missed out Champions League qualification.

More accustomed to playing at Europe's top level, they strolled to victory on their Europa League return, notching five goals without reply against NEC from just 11 shots.

Rising star Kerim Alajbegovic was on the scoresheet in Turin - along with misfiring strikers Nick Woltemade and Randal Kolo Muani - as Juve made an exemplary start.

However, Luciano Spalletti's side have been less impressive on the domestic scene, winning only one of their last four league games.

Juventus had to settle for a 1-1 away draw with Cagliari on Sunday night, when Kolo Muani found the target again, and Spalletti may be feeling the pressure.

The veteran coach was sent off following a touchline confrontation at full time in Sardinia, as his team slipped down to sixth place.

Though he was not in charge for the whole campaign, Juve managed just one win from five Champions League away fixtures last term, so Spalletti will hope to fare much better in Europe's second tier.

With a less stellar record than two-time continental champions Juventus, Celta Vigo only intermittently appear in Europe.

The Spanish side last met Juve some 26 years ago, in the UEFA Cup, winning 4-0 at home in the second leg to progress with a 4-1 aggregate score.

After reaching the Europa League quarter-finals last season, they now have a taste for knockout football, and coach Claudio Giraldez has gained plenty of plaudits along the way.

However, Celta have only won one La Liga game this term and they also lost their first league-phase match last month, conceding a crucial late goal to Omonia in Cyprus.

The Galician club responded well to that setback, taking four points from two domestic games while keeping consecutive clean sheets - last time out, they held Elche to a goalless draw.

Now, having won four of seven games at Balaidos in last season's long Europa League run, Celta will try to topple Italy's most successful club.

Celta Vigo Europa League form:

Celta Vigo form (all competitions):

Juventus Europa League form:

Juventus form (all competitions):

Team News

Spalletti is set to rotate his injury-hit squad amid a spell of five games within two weeks - next up is a clash with high-flying Lazio.

Lloyd Kelly can play after serving a UEFA ban against NEC, bolstering Juve's options at the back.

However, the Bianconeri will still be without several players: captain Manuel Locatelli joins Kenan Yildiz, Khephren Thuram, Jeremie Boga, Jeff Ekhator and reserve goalkeeper Kamil Grabara on the sidelines.

Despite his domestic woes over the past few months, Kolo Muani has been directly involved in eight goals in his last eight European matches.

As well as scoring and assisting as a substitute on matchday one, the French forward also scored and hit the bar against Cagliari, so he may keep his place ahead of a below-par Woltemade.

Celta's attack is usually led by Ferran Jutgla, but Borja Iglesias is an experienced alternative with 10 goals in 41 UEFA competition appearances.

The hosts have three men ruled out: Carl Starfelt, Miguel Roman and Jones El-Abdellaoui, with the latter not due back until next year.

More positively, veteran forward Iago Aspas was back on the bench last weekend, having missed the trip to Nicosia through injury.

Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:

Radu; Caceres, Lago, Alonso; Rueda, Febas, Moriba, Galan; Duran, Jutgla, Alvarez

Juventus possible starting lineup:

Vicario; Celik, Gatti, Kelly, Cambiaso; Luiz, Sarr; Alajbegovic, McKennie, Gonzalez; Kolo Muani