Charlie Nicholas: 'Juventus will beat Real Madrid'

Former Arsenal striker Charlie Nicholas has predicted that Juventus will beat Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tonight.

Madrid are the favourites to win the tie, but Juventus have been in scintillating domestic form this season and Nicholas has tipped them to earn a lead in Turin.

He told Sky Sports News: "For me, it's a 50-50 tie. Juventus will probably be cautious because they won't want to let an away goal in, but I definitely see them scoring.

"I think Madrid are still too individual rather than being a great team. [Cristiano] Ronaldo's self-interest is still there. He's still a sensational player, but I think it's affecting the team. So I'm going to go for Juventus to win this 1-0.

"Juventus will be of the mind-set where they'll take a 0-0 knowing that they're good enough to go to Madrid and draw or even win, because they've got pace and power. But I think they'll really open this tie up and sneak a 1-0 win. Set-pieces will be so important so I'm going to tip Giorgio Chiellini to score, I always fancy him to win a header."

The second leg will take place in Madrid next week.