
Juventus vs. Bayern Munich: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream, TV Info
After finally clawing their way back to the summit of Serie A last week by beating closest rivals Napoli, Juventus were given something of a jolt by Bologna on Friday night. Ending a club-record 15-game winning streak, the Bianconeri could be forgiven for already having their minds on Bayern Munich.
The German champions visit Turin this week for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 clash, and Juve—despite knowing their opponents will be an even more difficult proposition—believe they can emerge victorious.
“It will be a great encounter. The most important thing is that we’ll go into the game knowing that we can win it,” Leonardo Bonucci told reporters after the Bologna game, per the club’s official website. “We’ve shown how good we can be in this unbeaten run and we’ll take to the field on Tuesday confident of doing the job.”
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While that positive approach is highly commendable and essential to hopes of a Bianconeri upset, there is little doubt that Bayern enter the tie as favourites. They have lost just twice in all competitions during 2015/16, with the most recent of those coming in an early December defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach.
They are not without problems of their own, however, with defenders Jerome Boateng and Javi Martinez already ruled out, while doubts linger over the fitness of Medhi Benatia, Franck Ribery and Mario Gotze.
The latter man expects a difficult encounter, expressing his respect and admiration for the Bianconeri in a recent interview with Chinese news agency Xinhua. “You have to be ready in the moments that count. I can tell you we are,” Goetze said (h/t Football Italia). “We know Juve will be a hard nut to crack.”
It is a tie that will end the hopes for one of these two giant clubs, but shortly after the draw, the Juventus boss allowed himself to dream of what eliminating Pep Guardiola’s side would mean.
“If we beat Bayern, we’ll be considered as one of the favourites for the trophy,” Massimiliano Allegri told a press conference back in December.

Date: Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Time: 7:45 p.m. GMT/2:45 p.m. ET
Venue: Juventus Stadium, Turin
TV Info: BT Sport 2 (UK), Fox Sports 2 (USA)
Live Stream: BT Connect (UK)
Form Lines
Last five domestic results:
| Chievo 0-4 Juventus | Hamburg SV 1-2 Bayern Munich |
| Juventus 1-0 Genoa | Bayern Munich 2-0 Hoffenheim |
| Frosinone 0-2 Juventus | Bayer Leverkusen 0-0 Bayern Munich |
| Juventus 1-0 Napoli | Augsburg 1-3 Bayern Munich |
| Juventus 0-0 Bologna | Bayern Munich 0-0 Darmstadt |
Probable Formations

Juventus (3-5-2): Gigi Buffon; Stephan Lichtsteiner, Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli; Juan Cuadrado, Sami Khedira, Claudio Marchisio, Paul Pogba, Patrice Evra; Mario Mandzukic, Paulo Dybala
Unavailable: Giorgio Chiellini, Kwadwo Asamoah, Martin Caceres and Alex Sandro (all injured)
Bayern Munich: (4-2-3-1): Manuel Neuer; Philipp Lahm, Joshua Kimmich, David Alaba, Juan Bernat; Xabi Alonso, Thiago Alcantara; Arjen Robben, Thomas Muller, Douglas Costa; Robert Lewandowski
Unavailable: Jerome Boateng, Holder Badstuber, Javi Martinez, Serdar Tasci, Medhi Benatia (all injured)
Key Battle

Much of Bayern Munich’s success in recent years can be attributed to the quality of their wingers, with the duo of Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben becoming hugely important members of the 2013 Champions League-winning side.
Yet Douglas Costa has arguably surpassed the duo this season, with the Brazilian having made an incredible impact since arriving from Shakhtar Donetsk in the summer. The Allianz Arena side paid the Ukrainian club £21 million, according to BBC Sport, but Costa has proven to be a superb investment.

Weighing in with two goals and 11 assists in the Bundesliga, Costa has also netted twice more—and created another pair of goals for his team-mates—in five Champions League appearances this term.
Juventus will need to be at their best to prevent the 25-year-old adding to those tallies, with the task of stopping him likely to fall to Stephan Lichtsteiner. Their head-to-head battle was discussed in this previous post, and the Swiss defender has shown himself capable of shutting down even the very best players when called upon to do so.
Player to Watch

While the Bianconeri will be clearly looking to deny Bayern any advantage in attack, they must not neglect events at the other end of the field. But although Paulo Dybala has been their most decisive striker and Mario Mandzukic brings a wealth of Champions League experience, Alvaro Morata may be the man to watch.
The Spain international has endured a difficult campaign, suffering a long goal drought before netting four times in two games at the end of last month. That took his 2015/16 tally to seven in all competitions, but Juventus will need him to be at his very best if they are to enjoy any success here.
Morata has, of course, proved he can deliver in European football’s elite competition, netting in both legs of the semi-final and in the final itself last year. He also struck in both fixtures against Borussia Dortmund, and his pace on the counter-attack could prove to be key to his side’s hopes against yet another German opponent.
Odds (via Odds Shark)
Away win: 11-10
Home win: 5-2
Draw: 23-10






