10 August 2019
It’s the third and last match of the International Champions Cup 2019 for Juventus. Today, at 18.00 (more precisely, at 18:06) at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, Juventus will face Atletico Madrid. The two teams will face each other just a few months after the double challenge of the UEFA Champions League first knockout round.
How the COLCHONEROS have changed
For the ninth consecutive season, Diego Simeone is the coach of Atletico Madrid, which, compared to last season, has seen several changes take place in the team’s personnel. Griezmann, Godin, Filipe Luis, Juanfran, Hernandez, Rodri and Gelson Martins are all no longer with the club. But, in their place, a number of quality players have arrived; starting with the 19-year-old Portuguese striker João Félix, who came from Benfica to replace Antoine Griezmann. With him there, Atletico have also welcomed the arrival of Kieran Trippier (from Tottenham), Renan Lodi (Athletico Paranaense), Mario Hermoso (Espanyol) and Felipe (Porto) in defence, while in the middle of the field the new faces are Marcos Llorente (Real Madrid) and Hector Herrera, who arrived on a free after a long experience with Porto.
UNDISPUTED FRIENDLY
The Spanish team has so far played five friendlies. On 20 July they beat Numancia 3-0 (goals by Vitolo, Šaponjić and Felipe), while four days later, they made their debut in the International Champions Cup 2019. In Arlington, Texas, Atletico were held 0-0 against the Mexican club, Chivas, who then imposed themselves 5-4 on penalties. At the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, near New York, on 27 July, Atletico played the craziest game of the summer, always valid for the ICC: the Madrid derby against Real. Simeone's team won with an incredible 7-3 scoreline: Diego Costa (4), João Félix, Correa and Vitolo all got on the scoresheet for the red and white.
Victories then followed in the other two friendly matches for Atletico: 3-0 against the MLS All-Stars selection (1 August) and 2-1 against San Luis (3 August)
THE FACTS ABOUT THE GAME
Juventus have suffered a defeat in both previous matches in the International Champions Cup against Spanish teams: 1-2 against Barcelona in 2017 and 1-3 against Real Madrid in 2018.
Atletico Madrid lost the only precedent in the International Champions Cup against an Italian opponent: 0-1 against Inter in the 2018 edition with a Lautaro Martínez goal.
Juventus and Atletico Madrid have only drawn one of the nine previous matches in official competitions (including the Fairs Cup): the Bianconeri have obtained five successes against the three of Madrid.
Juventus did not find success in regular time in the first two games of this ICC: only in 2013 did they not win in the 90 minutes in any of the games held in the competition.
In the last matches played, Atletico Madrid won 7-3 against Real Madrid: they had scored a total of four goals in the previous five games played in this competition.
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 25 goals, in all the official competitions against Atletico Madrid (including four triplets). Only against Sevilla has he done better with 27 goals.
Álvaro Morata played 93 games in all competitions with the Juventus jersey between 2014 and 2016 scoring 27 goals.
