Villarreal and Juventus meet in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg on Tuesday.
Neither side has particularly impressed domestically this season but the UEFA Champions League anthem has stirred something inside both teams. Villarreal saved their best until last in the group stage with a 3-2 victory at Atalanta sealing their progress while Juventus took the opposite path, qualifying by winning their first four matches.
Possible line-ups
Villarreal: Rulli; Foyth, Albiol, Pau Torres, Peraza; Capoue, Lo Celso, Parejo; Alberto Moreno, Chukwueze, Danjuma
Juventus: Szczesny; De Sciglio, Danilo, De Ligt, Alex Sandro; Cuadrado, Locatelli, Zakaria, Rabiot; Morata, Vlahović
What the coaches say
Unai Emery, Villarreal coach: “Juventus have international players and every one of them is highly experienced. However, we have internationals too in Pau Torres, Raúl Albiol, Juan Foyth. We’ve tried so hard to be here, we don’t just want recognition if we play well, but because we win […] We have to demand more from ourselves. We are here because we deserve to be.”
Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus coach: “The tie isn’t already decided. [Villarreal] are having a good spell at the moment, as are we. They are a technical team with a great coach. It will be a very tactical match, where we will have to pay attention to the details and have patience. We will need to compose ourselves and show balance.”
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