Atletico Madrid vs. Juventus: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview
Juventus' visit to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday is undoubtedly the pick of the second round of matches in the 2014-15 Champions League.
Both sides won their domestic leagues last season and there will be a wealth of talent on display as the Serie A and La Liga champions go head to head at the Vicente Calderon.
Before the opening games of this year's competition, most would likely have predicted Atletico and Juve to be battling it out for top spot in Group A.
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However, the Spanish side's 3-2 defeat to Olympiacos means Diego Simeone and his men are now under huge pressure to take the three points on offer on Wednesday.
Read on for full scheduling, television and live streaming information ahead of what should be a thrilling encounter.
Date: Wednesday, October 1
Time: 7:45 p.m. BST, 2:45 p.m. ET
TV Info: Sky Sports 5 (UK), Fox Soccer Plus (US)
Live Stream: Sky Go, Fox Soccer Plus
Atletico Need Victory
Last season, Atletico made it all the way to the final of the Champions League before losing in extra time to city-rivals Real Madrid.
They topped their group with five wins and one draw and conceded just three times in the six encounters.
Only in the final did they taste defeat, and even then, Real required the added half hour to turn Simeone's side over.
Thus, their away defeat to the Greek champions two weeks ago—in which they conceded three—was something of a novel experience in recent times for the La Liga side.
Simeone has admitted that it puts them on the back foot right from the off and adds pressure for the encounter with Juve, per Atletico's website (h/t ITV Football):
"Olympiacos start from a very strong position to qualify and it makes us more uncomfortable to play at home against Juventus, who also started from a good position.
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Wednesday is something of a must-win game for Atleti then, but they will be buoyed by their decent league form which most recently saw them impressively thrash Sevilla 4-0, per ESPN's Dermot Corrigan:
That game also saw the return of key striker Mario Mandzukic from a broken nose suffered against Olympiacos.
Atleti certainly have the quality to beat Juve in Madrid but they have piled pressure on themselves by losing in their opener, a factor which may be telling on Wednesday.
Big Test for Juve
Unlike their opponents, Juventus got their Champions League campaign off to a winning start with a 2-0 home victory over Malmo courtesy of two goals from Carlos Tevez.
However, as Goal.com's Kris Voakes asserts, they were not at their best against the Swedish side and will have to up their game against Ateltico, a far better team:
The Old Lady have got off to a perfect start in Serie A this season, winning all five of their opening games and not conceding a single goal.
If they can keep Atletico out, then they will return to Turin with at least a point which would most certainly constitute a job well done for Massimiliano Allegri's side.
Last season, Juve did not even make it out of the group, picking up just six points. They have made a solid start to the competition this term with the Malmo victory and will be clear favourites for the group win if they do not lose on Wednesday.
It has been a long time since Juventus went deep into the European Cup—2003's final loss the most recent campaign of major note—a shame for such a storied club.
A convincing performance against Atletico could go a long way to breeding the confidence needed for Juve to make a serious impact on this year's competition.
