Sports
CRISTIANO Ronaldo is set to return to the starting line-up as Juventus look to overturn a 2-1 deficit in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Porto in Turin on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old Portugal forward was only a substitute for Juventus’ 3-1 Serie A win over Lazio on Saturday.
But on Monday, boss Andrea Pirlo said Ronaldo, a five-time Champions League winner, was just being rested.
“Cristiano is fine. These are his matches. He’s fired up,” said Pirlo.
“He’s been able to rest and can’t wait.
“We know the pressure is on us, but we don’t hide. We have what it takes to go through, but we don’t underestimate our opponents. However, we are Juventus and have to think about qualifying.”
Juventus, third in Serie A, were eliminated in the last 16 of the Champions League in 2019-20, going out on away goals against French side Lyon.
Pirlo is set to be without Dutch central defender Matthijs de Ligt, who did not train fully with his team-mates on Monday, although Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini is back in contention.
Porto are aiming to make the quarter-finals for the second time in three seasons.
The Portuguese side, second in the Primeira Liga, but 10 points behind leaders Sporting Lisbon, went 2-0 ahead in the first leg thanks to goals from Mehdi Taremi and Moussa Marega, before Federico Chiesa pulled one back in the 82nd minute to give Juventus what could be a valuable away goal.
Boss Sergio Conceicao said his side would not be sitting back, despite holding the advantage.
He said: “Our history in this competition is very rich. We’ve prepared in the best way to get a positive result that, in a club like FC Porto, can only be the victory.
“We’re going to play in the image of who we are as a team and try to win it. We go with everything to get the qualification.”
Porto hope to end losing Champions League run in Italy – the stats
- Juventus have won their two home Champions League matches against Porto, 3-1 in October 2001 and 1-0 in March 2017.
- Porto’s 2-1 victory over Juventus in the first leg was their first win over them in European competition at the sixth attempt (drawn one, lost four). Porto have lost their past five away Champions League games in Italy, since a 3-2 win over AC Milan in 1996.
- Juventus have lost two of their past 12 home games in the knockout stages of the Champions League (won eight, drawn two), however those two defeats have come within the previous three seasons (3-0 v Real Madrid in 2017-18 and 2-1 v Ajax in 2018-19).
- Porto are winless in 13 away games in the Champions League knockout stages (drawn four, lost nine).
- Juventus have been eliminated from five of their past six Champions League knockout ties when losing the first leg, the exception being the 2018-19 last-16 tie against Atlético Madrid (0-2 first leg, 3-0 second leg).
- Porto have been eliminated in their past three Champions League knockout ties after winning the first leg, going out versus Arsenal in 2009-10, Malaga in 2012-13 and Bayern Munich in 2014-15.
BBC Sport
– Mar. 09, 2021 @ 08:35 GMT |
Tags: Ronaldo is set to return to the starting line-up as Juventus look to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Porto in Turin
