After Juventus’ 2-0 win over Pescara on Sunday afternoon, the message from Max Allegri was the same as it was the weekend before. He said: “Now we can think of Barcelona.”
[caption id="attachment_613" align="alignnone" width="719"] Coach of Juventus FC Massimiliano Allegri [/caption]
The mindset from Allegri was exactly the same, the message to his players and to the media was the same as it was seven days earlier. As much as we thought Pescara could be a slip-up game because of what’s next on the schedule, the cliché but effective one-game-at-a-time approach has been clearing working with the fixtures so jam-packed. The one main difference going into the second leg is the obvious one.
Last Tuesday night it was about potentially getting a lead against Barcelona with the second leg being in Spain. This Wednesday night, it’s going to be about making sure Barcelona doesn’t pull a rabbit out of their hat for the second straight knockout round and flip the script on an aggregate scoreline. That means defending a lead, not trying to simply acquire it.
[caption id="attachment_615" align="alignnone" width="720"] Juventus' coach Massimiliano Allegri speaks during a press conference at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona[/caption]
Juventus controls its own destiny to reach the Champions League semifinals for the second time in three seasons under Allegri’s watch. And for Juventus, that next round is the Champions League semifinals.
The odds have changed drastically over the past week, both for Barcelona and for Juventus. One team is in the driver’s seat, the other one is going to try and pull a rabbit out of its hat for the second straight knockout round in Europe. “The picture tomorrow is very simple for us. To get past Barcelona — a side for whom we have great respect — we need to defend well and attack well. If we do that, we can take a small step towards the final in Cardiff, no more and no less.”
Quotes
[caption id="attachment_617" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi (L), Brazilian forward Neymar (C) and Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez (R) take part in a training[/caption]
Neymar: "We have to believe we can do it," said Neymar in an interview with Brazilian television channel Esporte Interativo. "The other day my father told me one thing which has stayed in my head, and I think it's true. In front of us we have a different team, but Barcelona is the same. And we can do it.
"We did it once and we can do it a second time. We have to give our absolute maximum. If everything goes well, there will be another comeback. I believe in the team and in our power. Everything is lost (already), so we have nothing to lose and everything to gain."
Luis Enrique: My preference wouldn't only have been a couple of weeks to plan, but a holiday in the Maldives too! This is a bit similar to the PSG match but in theory we need to score fewer goals – instead of four, just three to square things. But I think Juve will have their chances, so our objective is to score five.
Massimiliano Allegri: We have to be clever in choosing when to attack, when to defend. I guess Barcelona haven't changed much in a week – they are full of potential, something we knew in Turin. We need to be smart. We need to be clear-minded, technical and not think of the scoreline. We will go out to try and win again.
Team news
Although Neymar will return for the clash, Barcelona are likely to be without Javier Mascherano, who did not train on Monday due to a calf injury, as well as long-term absentees Aleix Vidal and Rafinha.
Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, who scored twice in the first leg, was taken off with an ankle injury as they won 2-0 at Pescara on Saturday, but is expected to be fit to play.