Villarreal vs Juventus: Champions League Preview

Today’s the day. We’ve had this date circled ever since the draw happened and now it’s time to see it all unfold out on the pitch. I caught a lot of flack for saying that Villarreal would be favored in this matchup if they continued their good run of form, and now here we are on the day of and 538 has us at 62% likely to advance to the quarterfinals. We have been playing well, Juvenuts is beat up, and we should win.

Our Opponents

Juventus come into this match with only one fit CB, that’s Matthijs De Ligt. Chiesa has been out most of the year and Dybala and Bernardeschi join him on the injury list. This team is wounded in both attack and defense and even at their best they haven’t been elite this season.

They’ve played Chelsea twice, the team we lost to on penalties in the UEFA Super Cup. In the first matchup in September Juventus won 1-0 but then were dismantled 4-0 in the second matchup in November.

Villarreal

I don’t think we’re gonna have Gerard Moreno for this one, and that’s extremely frustrating. However, Villarreal has shown that they can score goals without him and we still have plenty of talented attackers. I think we have the advantage in terms of back line, midfield, and attack in this one, and unless Emery gets the tactics entirely wrong or the team just comes out entirely flat I see no reason why we shouldn’t win this football match. Traveling to Turin is going to be its own different thing, they may be more healthy by then and their home fans will change the dynamic, but in La Ceramica we should carry the day.

Prediction

2-0 Villarreal. Endavant!