Juventus vs Monaco: Champions League match preview

A look ahead to this week’s Champions League quarter-final

Juventus forward Carlos Tevez celebrates his goal against Borussia Dortmund in the first leg (GETTY IMAGES)

Serie A leaders Juventus welcome Monaco to Turin on Tuesday night, hoping to dispose of the French side whose season is running through an indifferent patch.

Two rather unknown quantities to each other, the sides have only twice met in the Champions League, the last occasion seeing Juve progress to the 1998 final, despite losing 3-2 in the second leg.

Despite overcoming Arsenal in the previous round, Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim will have taken little comfort from his side’s 2-0 defeat on home turf against Arsene Wenger’s men, only winning the tie on aggregate after an earlier impressive 3-1 victory.

Juventus hope to have playmaker Andrea Pirlo back following a leg injury, picked up in their last Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund.

The Italians appear to be running away with their domestic title, 12 points clear of Lazio in second place. With 70 points, Juve look certain to go on and collect their 31st domestic title. A 1-0 loss at the hands of Parma last Saturday however ended a 26 game winning streak in all competitions for the Old Lady, which could be a positive sign for the Monaco squad.

The French club will be pinning their hopes of a win on Italian soil on star players Joao Moutinho and Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian’s goal against Arsenal in the last round was his first in this season’s Champions League. The 34-year-old will be hoping to add to that against the side he snubbed in 2012, opting to join Fulham rather than the Italian giants.

KICK OFF… Tuesday, 7.45pm

PAST MEETINGS…

Monaco 3 (Philippe Léonard, Thierry Henry, Robert Spehar) Juventus 2 (Nicola Amoruso, Alessandro Del Piero) Champions League, semi-final 1998

Juventus 4 (Alessandro Del Piero (3), Zinédine Zidane) Monaco 1 (Costinha)

STATS…

Monaco have an average pass accuracy of 80 per cent throughout this season.

Juventus have converted from 14 set pieces this domestic season, compared to 11 of Monaco.

Monaco have kept five clean sheets in this season’s tournament, while Juventus have managed four shut-outs.

ODDS…

Juventus to win 1.5

Monaco to win 8.5

Draw 4.2

TV: Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 5