Juventus will have another road game this Wednesday night, albeit in the Champions League. The Bianconeri will face FC Porto in the Round of 16 at the Estadio do Dragao, knowing that nothing less than a victory will be expected of them. And they have the added pressure of needing to bounce back after a tough loss in Serie A to Napoli.
Let’s take a look at three keys to victory for the Black and Whites as they look to avoid a first-leg upset in Porto.
Juventus cannot underestimate Porto’s midfield
Juve’s biggest weakness is in the middle of the park this season, especially right now with Arthur Melo set to miss this first leg due to an injury. The Bianconeri will roll with Adrien Rabiot and Rodrigo Bentancur again in the center of the park, and the two men were hardly inspiring against Napoli this weekend.
Meanwhile, Porto have two strong defensive players in Sergio Oliveira and Mateus Uribe, who are both averaging more than two tackles per game in Liga NOS this season, according to WhoScored.com. Uribe has exactly 2.1 interceptions per game and 2.1 tackles per game.
Juventus must show these two men respect. They need to be smart in order to retain possession and cannot afford to back down physically against them either.
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Alex Sandro playing a role in the attack
Juventus need to get more production out of the left-hand side of the formation. Federico Chiesa will likely still start on the left despite Juan Cuadrado’s injury, as Juve could play Weston McKennie or even Dejan Kulusevski on the right.
It is the left back position that is the bigger issue for Juve offensively. Alex Sandro is averaging a mere 0.6 key passes per game and 0.8 dribbles completed per game. He is locked in to start against his former club this Wednesday night, and it is high time the 30-year-old stepped up to the plate in an attacking sense. Juventus need more creation and dynamism from him.
Alvaro Morata, Cristiano Ronaldo must bounce back for Juventus
The Bianconeri’s two best players this season have been Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata, with the former still leading all Serie A players in goals scored. But neither star forward had a star performance over the weekend at Napoli. Ronaldo squandered two easy chances and was not involved enough, while Morata was potentially Juve’s worst player on the pitch.
Ronaldo is a great candidate to go off against Porto, while Morata has been great in the 2020-2021 Champions League campaign thus far with seven goal contributions in six appearances, including six goals across five starts.
If both men return to their regular form on Wednesday at the Estadio do Dragao, then the Bianconeri should be able to cruise to a victory. If not, Juve could struggle and be in a situation where the pressure is on them at the Juventus Stadium come leg two.