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Barcelona will travel to the Alpine city of Turin to face Juventus at the Allianz Stadium on matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League after both teams won their first match.
AllNews understands that Juventus will be without their talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo as he tested positive for COVID-19 on his second test.
READ ALSO: Juventus Striker, Ronaldo Tests Positive To COVID-19 Again, Will Miss UCL Barcelona Clash
Yet the absence of the Portuguese would not water down the popularity of the event and he could be back for the second leg at Camp Nou.
As for the precedents, Barça and Juve have met each other in a total of 13 official matches. The balance, however, is very even: four wins for Barça, four draws, and five victories for the Italians.
On a positive note for Barcelona fans, the last time both teams met in the group stage (2017/18) the Catalans won at Camp Nou and drew in Turin. Furthermore, the last Champions League that Barça won was defeating Juventus in the Berlin final in 2015.
For Juventus fans, Barcelona is coming off the back of a 3-1 whopping at the Camp Nou by Real Madrid in an 'El Clasico' which makes their morale somewhat battered.
For the Neutrals, Barcelona could be described as a 'wounded lion' and seeking revenge with the Serie A giants not ready to give them a quarter, it makes a match of the 'titans'.
The team from Turin has several new faces for this season. The arrival of Andrea Pirlo as coach stands out, alongside a team full of renowned stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo (not available), Dybala, Khedira, Chiellini, and Bonucci, as well as veteran goalkeeper Buffon and youngsters De Ligt, Bentancur, and Rabiot.
There are other new faces at the club such as returning Alvaro Morata, former Barcelona midfielder, Arthur Melo, Kulusevski, Chiesa, and McKennie.
It is, undoubtedly, a great squad for Pirlo to work with, and who, during his first games as a coach has tried both a 4-4-2 and 3-4-1-2 formation.
The old lady's last league match ended in a 1-1 draw with Verona with Kulusevski scoring the equalizer.
Morata also came to Juventus aid with a brace on matchday 1 of the UCL fixture.
? #JuveBarça ⭐️⚽️#MondayMotivation ? #JuveUCL ⚪️⚫️#ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/k0ZPQRlhgm
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 26, 2020
Juventus will look to make a statement in Europe that they can face Barcelona without Cristiano Ronaldo and with Messi on the opposing side, it would be a huge statement.
Barcelona recently has not been living up to their big name across Europe and they will look to restore their old glory against another big name around.
Their 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich, 4-0 to Liverpool, 3-0 to Roma are but fresh on their minds.
Beating Juventus in the first big match since Bayern will be a way to say 'it was just a slip up'
Barcelona's morale is very low with the 3-1 defeat at home on Saturday is fresh on the minds of all, especially in an El Clasico.
There have been major restructuring at the club since Ronald Koeman took the reins at the Camp Nou - Messi staying put, Coutinho's rejuvenation, Trincao, Griezmann pushed to the bench, Ansu Fati record-breaking, Pedri making a name, Neto between the sticks, and Dembele's pushing back.
⚽️ All the goals ? Ferencváros! ?
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 26, 2020
? #JuveBarça pic.twitter.com/o6cWXsACdA
In the first game of the UCL, Barcelona scored 5 goals with 5 different scorers - Messi, Fati, Pedri, Coutinho, Dembele.
There have been some new names too at Barcelona - Sergino Dest, Pjanic, Trincao, and Pedri, has brought new flare to the team.
Barcelona will try to get back on track after the setback from the La Liga fixture and look to keep the season going with a win at Turin.
Apart from the players going head to head, the coaches were also former players who were but 'Legends of the game' going head to head as well.
Two legends of the game, head to head.
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 26, 2020
This Wednesday.#JuveBarça pic.twitter.com/ijBGBHTyKF
With Coutinho out of the clash, Ruqui Puig could be paired in the game or Pjanic could be deployed into the midfield position where he is always comfortable to play with his experience playing at the Allianz Arena.
Gerard Pique is suspended for the game as well and Lenglet could be paired with Araujo or Umtiti depending on his fitness.
Lionel Messi is another factor that cannot be overemphasized with the Argentine capable of single-handedly lifting Barcelona past Juventus as he had done in the past.
Neto will be between the sticks with Marc Ter Stegen rejuvenating from his surgery and not yet fit to play.
Wednesday, October 28 (9.00 pm CEST).
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