Jose Mourinho returns to the home of Juventus on the fourth round of the Champions League, the group stage. Manchester United will try to win, but at the “Allianz” stadium and against a white team at a time like this, it will be complicated. Allegri wants the passage of the round and expects Cristiano Ronaldo to break.
Juventus takes first place in Group H of the Champions League, with maximum points after the victories against Valencia, Young Boys and Manchester United. Last visit to “Old Trafford” proved successful for the Italian champions, because they won 1-0. Tonight is the “second act”, that of return. On the eve of this long-awaited confrontation, we are familiar with some interesting data and figures:
– The penultimate time, when Manchester United and Juventus were battling, was in the second phase of the Champions League, 2002-2003. The “Red Devils” have won in both games (2-1 at home and 3-0 in transfer). The last time it was two weeks ago, when the Bianconeri won 1-0 at Old Trafford.
– Prior to the forerunner, Manchester United had won the last three official matches against Juventus, one more than the ones achieved in nine other rounds between them (2 wins, 2 draws, 5 defeats).
– Whenever Manchester United and Juventus have faced Europe, one of the teams has also reached the final of the competition: Juventus at the UEFA Cup (1976-1977); in the Cup of Nations (1983-1984), as well as in the Champions League (1996-1997, 1997-1998 and 2002-2003). Manchester United has reached the Champions League final (1998-1999).
– Juventus is the team that Manchester United has encountered several times (13 in total) in European competitions (5 wins, 2 draws, 6 losses).
– Manchester United kept the clean gate in the first two Champions League games played against the Bianconeri. In the previous two cases, in which the “Red Devils” did not score in the first three games, they then invaded the final (in the 2008-2009 and 2010-2011 seasons).
– Juventus has won the Champions League three games this season, scoring six goals without any. Earlier, three times the Bianconeri won the first three games in this competition: the seasons 1995-1996, 2003-2004 and 2004-2005.
– Juventus lost only 2 of the last 24 matches in the Champions League group stage (15 wins, 7 draws, 2 defeats). Both losses are against Spanish teams.
– Paul Pogba took part in the three goals (two goals and an assistant) scored by Manchester United in this Champions League. This will be the second match against his former team.
– Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo has scored five goals and has given two assists in seven Champions League matches against his former team.
– In the challenge against Young Boys, Paulo Dybala became Juventus’s fourth player, marking a “hat trick” in the Champions League (like Inzaghi, Vidal and Del Piero). Among the Italian teams, only Milan has more “hat trick” (5).
