29 August 2019
The Montecarlo casket has not reserved anything new to Juventus, for in previous seasons, the Bianconeri have already faced Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and Lokomotiv Moscow. In fact, the tie against the Spaniards has now become a classic of European football, however, we must go back into the distant memory to remember the previous outings against the Germans and the Spaniards. There is a fact, however, that unites the next opponents of the Bianconeri in the Champions League: all are currently at the top of their respective leagues.
ATLETICO MADRID
After the double-header in the Last 16 of the last edition of the competition, where Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick at the Allianz Stadium allowed the Bianconeri to overturn the 2-0 first leg defeat sustained at Wanda Metropolitan, the images are still fresh in memory. However, those of last season are not the only previous encounters against the Spaniards. They recently met also in the summer friendly, valid for the International Champions Cup played in Stockholm.
In Europe, Juve and Atletico have faced each other nine times: five Bianconeri victories, three to the Colchoneros and a draw.
Atletico qualified for this edition of the Champions League after finishing in second place in last season's La Liga campaign: 11 points behind the champions Barcelona. Simeone's side currently occupies top spot in the Spanish league, which began two weeks go, with six points following victories over Getafe and Leganes.
BAYER LEVERKUSEN
After 17 years, Juventus will play Bayer Leverkusen again. The last meeting between the two sides came in the 2001/02 Champions League 2001/02 second group stage. In the first game, the Bianconeri won 4-0 at home in the Stadio delle Alpi, before being bested 3-1 in the return match at the BayArena, with these two matches the only precedents between the two sides. The group, also consisting of Arsenal and Deportivo La Coruna, was topped by the Germans, who advanced together with the Spaniards. Leverkusen would end up going all the way to the final, but would be defeated at Glasgow's Hampden Park 2-1 by Real Madrid.
Bayer, who finished fourth in the Bundesliga last season, ended the season 20 points behind winners Bayern Munich, are currently on maximum points this campaign, having won both matches against at full points after two championship days, having passed Paderborn and Fortuna Dusseldorf.
LOKOMOTIV MOSCA
Like Leverkusen there are only two previous encounters between Juve and Lokomotiv Moscow, and they both date back to the 1993/94 edition of the UEFA Cup, when the two teams faced each other in the Last 32. After a 3-0 win in the first leg at the Delle Alpi, with two goals from Baggio and and one from Ravanelli, the Bianconeri also imposed themselves at the Lokomotiv Stadium, thanks to Marocchi's goal.
The Russians, who qualified directly to the group stage of this year's Champions League after finishing in second place in the Russian Premier League last season, eight points behind winners Zenit, are currently first in the league this season, tied on 14 points with Krasnodar, Spartak Moscow, Rostov and Zenit. Four wins, two draws and one defeat are the results obtained so far.
