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Poor Juventus. The Old Lady had a really tough draw last year in the Champions League when it got stuck with Bayern Munich in the Round of 16. The team almost made it through, forcing the Bavarian giants into extra time before ultimately bowing out. Now, Juve is back and once again is going to be forced to play against one of the true giants of the sport a bit prematurely. The good news is that Juventus gets to play at home to open up this home and home series. The bad news is that it has to go against Barcelona, arguably the best team on the planet.
This Champions League duel will go down Tuesday, April 11, 2017, at 2:45 p.m. ET at Juventus Stadium. The match will be televised live on FOX Sports 1.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Juventus +161
Barcelona +180
Draw +233
Over/Under 2.5
Odds Analysis
Barca knows that it just has to get out of this matchup on the road alive, and it'll be in fine form going back to Camp Nou. That's why this match might not be quite as offense-oriented as you might think. Juventus is going to try to get through this whole 180 minutes conceding as few as possible against the most dangerous offense on the planet – easier said than done. But that's why this total is set at just 2.5, whereas the rest of the major matches played this week feature higher totals.
Juve is the slight favorite at +161. That's newsworthy in itself due to the fact that the Spanish giants are rarely underdogs playing anywhere in the world that isn't Madrid.
How They Got Here
What more can be said about Barcelona's success against PSG in the Round of 16? After falling behind 4-0 on the road in Paris, the Catalan side stormed back with a goal right at the outset from Luis Suarez followed by one on either side of halftime. It truly was game on from there. Edinson Cavani theoretically killed it off in the 62nd for the Parisians, but Barca scored three times in the last seven minutes of the match, including twice in stoppage time to completely the greatest comeback this tournament has ever seen.
Juventus actually had a fairly easy jaunt into the last eight for a change. The Old Lady took a little while to get going against FC Porto in the first knockout round, but they got the job done and finished up with a great defensive showing in both matches. It wasn't the sexiest showing on the face of the earth, but going 180 minutes against a good team without allowing a single goal is a great testament to how strong of a defensive team this really is.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
This is going to be a classic clash between the Barcelona offense with Neymar, Suarez and Lionel Messi and the Juventus defense with Dani Alves, Leonard Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli and of course, Gigi Buffon in the pipes.
Juventus probably isn't the better of these two teams, and the biggest question we have is where the goals are going to come from. Mario Mandzukic is a great scorer, and Gonzalo Higuain has had a great year in Serie A, but this is a significantly different competition against Barcelona.
With the form Barca is in, this is a scary team in both directions. Losing to Malaga was a big disaster that probably ended any hope of winning La Liga. But you never know when the Catalans are going to snap out of it and drop six goals on an unsuspecting team. Would it be incredibly shocking if this was the match in which that happened? Of course not. But if we're being more realistic, this is going to be a low-scoring match where Juventus has a legitimate chance to pull out a victory.
Champions League Odds: Juventus 2, Barcelona 1
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