Porto Draw a Favourable One for Juventus, Who Now Need to Show Their Inner Steel

Since returning to the competition in 2012/13, the UEFA Champions League has been difficult for Juventus. The Bianconeri were comprehensively outplayed by Bayern Munich in that campaign’s last 16 and failed to get out of the group stage 12 months later after a shock loss to Galatasaray.

Massimiliano Allegri replaced Antonio Conte as coach in July 2014 and appeared to instil renewed confidence in the side, steering them to the final in his first season. Yet they would lose to Barcelona and were again knocked out by Bayern Munich last term, lending weight to the idea they were out of touch with the continent’s elite clubs.

However, this season there has been something of a different air surrounding the team on European nights, a steely resolve to not waste another opportunity. Having previously struggled with smaller sides, they dispatched Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 and followed that up with a 1-0 win away to Olympique Lyonnais.

That they did so at the Stade de Lyon despite Mario Lemina’s red card only served to make that result even more impressive, while a 3-1 triumph at Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium provided a huge confidence boost.

They eventually managed their best points total in a decade—see Opta tweet above—which saw Juventus top their group for the first time since 2012. It appeared that doing so did little to improve their chances of a favourable draw, though, with Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain all possible last-16 opponents.

The Bianconeri can consider themselves somewhat fortunate then to have been paired with FC Porto. The Primeira Liga side have already faced Italian competition this season, eliminating AS Roma in the playoff round, running out 4-1 winners over the two-legged fixture.

They were then runners-up in Group G, drawing twice with FC Copenhagen while beating Club Brugge home and away. They lost 1-0 at Leicester City but then handed the Premier League champions a memorable 5-0 thrashing at the Estadio do Dragao last week to secure their place in the knockout rounds.

Porto sit second in their domestic league, too, four points behind leaders Benfica despite losing only one game thus far in 2016/17. However, they would have hoped for an easier draw here, with the Bianconeri posing a difficult challenge for coach Nuno Espirito Santo’s men.

"This is a very tough draw for Porto who will start very much as underdogs," Tom Kundert of PortuGoal.net explained to Bleacher Report shortly after their opponents were revealed. "They’re nothing like the strong European force of a few years back and are a team very much in transition."

Indeed, having previously boasted the likes of Danilo, Jackson Martinez and current Juve man Alex Sandro, they are now a young side looking to develop players as they have so many times before.

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"Starting strikers Andre Silva and Diogo Jota have both just turned 21 and 20 years old, respectively," Kundert continued. "Otavio (21) and Oliver Torres (22) are also undisputed starters, so it’s a very young and inexperienced team. The four players I mentioned are by no means the finished article, but all four are highly talented and look set for glittering careers.

"After an inconsistent start to the season, they're showing signs of hitting some decent form. They also have an impressive defence, only conceding one goal in last 11 games in all competitions."

The two clubs have met just three times before, most recently going head-to-head in the group stage of the same competition in the 2001/02 campaign. A 0-0 draw in Portugal was followed by a 3-1 triumph at the Stadio delle Alpi as Alessandro Del Piero, Paolo Montero and David Trezeguet got on the scoresheet for the Bianconeri.

The other meeting was undeniably the most memorable of the three, however, taking place back in 1984 as they faced off in the European Cup Winners' Cup final.

Juve qualified for that tournament by winning the Coppa Italia against Hellas Verona in 1982/83, and they swept Polish side Lechia Gdansk aside in the first round of the Cup Winners' Cup with a 10-2 aggregate victory.

From there, they would eliminate Paris Saint-Germain and Finland-based FC Haka, before going on to beat Manchester United in the semi-finals. Already the hero of Italy’s 1982 World Cup triumph, a last-minute goal from Paolo Rossi secured the Bianconeri a place in the final at FC Basel’s St. Jakob Stadium.

It would not take long for coach Giovanni Trapattoni’s men to show their superiority there either, with midfielder Beniamino Vignola putting them in the lead after just 12 minutes. However, Antonio Sousa equalised shortly before the half-hour mark with a stunning shot to beat Stefano Tacconi.

Shortly before half-time, though, Zbigniew Boniek restored Juve’s advantage following a brilliant long ball from Michel Platini, somehow bundling the ball into the back of the net to seal the victory.

The Bianconeri also won the Serie A title that year, the European trophy making for an impressive double for a team who would go on to even greater heights in the years that followed.

Speaking shortly after the draw paired the two sides again on Monday, Juventus vice-president Pavel Nedved spoke highly of the Portuguese side and told TuttoMercatoWeb (h/t Football Italia) that they will test Allegri’s men:

"

Everyone’s saying we’re the favourites, but in the Champions League there aren’t any favourites.

Going all the way [to the final] will be really complicated, it’s a difficult and complicated competition, nothing’s easy and all the games are complicated.

I’m never satisfied with the draw, you never know who awaits you. We’ll play this tie in two months, it’s difficult to speak after the draw.

Porto? We mustn’t underestimate anyone, we have to be careful. I know what it’s like to play in the Champions League, we have to face these matches with maximum concentration.

"

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But after being paired with Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich at this stage last year, La Vecchia Signora and her supporters are thankful the balls fell more kindly for their side this time round as one supporter explained.

"On paper it's one of the easiest games games we could have hoped for given their European form," Juve fan Gugs told Bleacher Report. "But the main thing is not to be complacent. We must slay the dragon and get into the quarter-finals, then do the typical Italian thing of building momentum in latter stages."

Recent displays by the Bianconeri have not been much more positive, a subject discussed in this previous post after Gonzalo Higuain’s goals masked some obvious flaws in the derby win over Torino.  

But just as Nedved was reluctant to speculate on the tie over two months before it takes place, Juventus will use that time to improve the ongoing chemistry and creativity issues that have affected them thus far.

"It's only a matter of time before we click as a team. Right now the results are there, but something is missing," Gugs continued. "We need to get far to show we are back and that that 2015 final wasn't a one-off, which is imperative for Serie A, too."

Juventus now have the opportunity to do just that, secure in the knowledge that the draw saw them avoid any of the continental heavyweights in the first knockout round. It is a chance Allegri and his players must not squander.