Juventus Handed Nostalgia-Laden Champions League Draw vs. Borussia Dortmund

Reaching the knockout rounds of the Champions League has been a huge relief for Juventus, achieving progress from the group stage that had proved beyond them last season. With a place in the last 16 secured, attention now turns to their chances of going deeper in the competition, with Borussia Dortmund standing in the way of a potential quarterfinal berth.

Having earned a hard-fought draw with Atletico Madrid last week, Diego Simeone warned the sides left in the draw that “it won’t be good to pick Juventus in the draw,” per Football Italia. Given how impressive Los Colchoneros have been over the last two seasons, such an admission from the fiery Argentinean is a ringing endorsement for the Turin giants.

However, as this player-by-player analysis of the Bianconeri performances in Europe shows, they have survived despite a number of key players failing to deliver. Fortunately for Massimiliano Allegri, while the likes of Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal have been poor, their German opponents have struggled even more.

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Currently sitting in the Bundesliga relegation zone, Jurgen Klopp’s men have won just four league games this season, a far cry from the form pf recent years. Back-to-back league winners in 2011 and 2012, the Signal Iduna Park side followed up those wins with consecutive second-placed finishes in each of the last two seasons.

Previously a free-scoring team playing superb football, only Hamburg (9) have scored fewer times than Dortmund’s tally 15 goals in 2014-15. The campaign was described last week as “more difficult than I could have imagined,” by Klopp, the coach struggling to come to terms with the club’s poor domestic displays.

It has been a different story in Europe however, Dortmund losing just once in six Group D matches, their only defeat coming away to Arsenal. Topping their group meant they avoided the competition’s elite sides, but they now face a trip down memory lane when they face off against the Bianconeri in February.

The two teams last met in the 1997 final, the Germans running out 3-1 winners at Munich’s Olympiastadion. Those fixtures were the culmination of a series of encounters throughout the 1990s, both having won a meeting in the previous season’s group stage and the Italian giants having won in the 1995 UEFA Cup semi-final.

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The same competition also saw the duo contest the 1993 Final, with Roberto Baggio inspiring the Bianconeri to a comprehensive 6-1 aggregate victory. Those games are firmly in the past however, and their forthcoming tie sees a former Juventus player return to Turin sooner than he could have anticipated.

Ciro Immobile moved to the club as an 18-year-old, representing them at youth level before a series of loans culminated in him joining cross-town rivals Torino just over a year ago. Last season saw him finish the campaign as Serie A’s leading scorer, his 22 goals firing the Granata to a Europa League place and catching the eye of Borussia Dortmund.

The Bianconeri received €8 million for their co-ownership stake in the striker, just last week stated his hope to meet his old club much later in the Champions League “Could we pick Juventus in the draw for the Round of 16?” Immobile pondered to TuttoSport (h/t Football Italia). “I’d prefer not, as I hope we’ll meet further along the line!”

Going on to state his “hope it is my Borussia Dortmund that eliminates Juve,” the 24-year-old has been granted the reunion he wished to delay. After finishing second to Atletico Madrid in Group A, the draw was somewhat kind to Juventus, who will surely prefer facing Dortmund over potential meetings with the likes of Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.

Allegri perhaps summed up the opinion of the Bianconeri best with a Tweet following the draw, stating it “could have been better, but it could have been worse too!” The coach also gave a nod to the nostalgia of the tie, one which will be eagerly anticipated by all at Juventus.