09 April 2018
Juventus travels to the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday for the seventh time in the UEFA Champions League to face Real Madrid in the return leg after Madrid’s 3-0 win at Allianz Stadium last week.
BIANCONERI AT THE BERNABEU
Juventus is 1-1-4 all-time at one of the great cathedrals of world football with the most recent match coming in 2015. Juve took a 2-1 lead from the Champions League semi-final first leg and earned a 1-1 draw thanks to an Alvaro Morata goal in the 57th minute, seeing the Bianconeri through to the final.
The lone Bianconeri win at the Bernabeu came in the 2008 group stage as a Del Piero double brought a standing ovation from the fans of Los Blancos.
In the 2013-2014 Champions League, Juve fell 2-1 at the Bernabeu with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring both goals while the other three defeats came in the knockout stages with the Bianconeri turning around all three results in the second leg in Turin to advance in 2005, 2003 and 1996.
RECENT FORM
The Bianconeri bounced back from defeat to Madrid in the best way possible with a 4-2 win away to **Benevento** on Saturday afternoon with a hat-trick from Paulo Dybala bringing La Joya to 21 goals in Serie A and 25 goals in all competitions.
It was the most goals Juve have scored since a 7-0 win over Sassuolo on 4 February and it was a win that kept Massimiliano Allegri’s side four points up on second-placed Napoli with seven matches remaining in the Serie A season. Juve currently hold an 18-match unbeaten streak in Serie A.
After a rocky start to the season, Real Madrid have certainly righted things recently with just one loss in their last 15 matches in all competitions. They come into Wednesday’s match off a 1-1 draw in the Madrid Derby against Atletico on Sunday that ended a six-match winning streak.
Madrid currently carries an 18-match Champions League home unbeaten streak stretching back more than three years to a defeat against Schalke 04 on 10 March 2015. This year at home in the Champions League, Madrid have defeated APOEL, Dortmund and PSG while drawing Spurs.
AROUND UCL
It’s a week that will see eight teams trimmed down to four across the Champions League. Barcelona take a 4-1 advantage to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Tuesday while Liverpool lead 3-0 after the first leg against Manchester City and Bayern Munich bring home a 2-1 advantage over Sevilla to the Allianz Area for Wednesday night’s match.
