Champions League: Atleti Wants Revenge Over Juventus!

Atletico Madrid vs Juventus

We have a replay of the 2019 ‘tie of the tournament’ to look forward to, when Atletico Madrid meets Juventus in Wednesday’s Champions League opener.

Who will forget the drama in Turin when Cristiano Ronaldo overturned a two goal deficit to fire Juve into the quarter finals, at Atleti’s expense? Certainly not Diego Simeone that’s for sure! The Rojiblancos’ head coach has prided himself in his team’s ability to shut out the best strikers, so it must have pained him to see it capitulate when Ronaldo threw down the challenge.

There have been some changes in personnel at both clubs since that game, but the scars in Madrid are still visible and Simone’s men are out for revenge.

The pre-tournament Champions League 2019 betting odds pitch these two European giants as strong outside bets, with Manchester City again the favourite, and likely quarter-finalists. Neither will want to lose this tie.

Talking Points

Atleti’s Perfect Start ended

After winning their first three league games, all by the odd goal, Los Rojiblancos went down to a two goal defeat away to Real Sociedad at the weekend, and they can have no complaints. Sociedad had the better of the game, dominating possession and having five shots on target to Atleti’s two. Simeone will hope it’s a blip.

Joao Felix has arrived in Madrid as the eventual natural successor to the departed Antoine Griezmann. He’s made a bright start to his career in Madrid, but was hooked on 57 minutes against Sociedad, replaced by Angel Correa, and then the hosts scored their two goals in the following five minutes.

Juve’s Defensive Prowess

For so long Atletico Madrid has boasted the best defence in Europe, marshalled by the imperious Diego Godin, partnered by Jose Gimenez. Well Gimenez is still there, but with all respect to his latest partner Stefan Savic, opponent Juventus has a centre back pairing to rival the best.

Cristiano Ronaldo have scored in Juventus' win against Atletico Madrid last Champions League 2018 — Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo playing against Fiorentina

Matthisj de Ligt and Juve legend, Leonardo Bonucci are putting together a defensive partnership to test the best strikers in Europe. De Ligt works alongside Virgil Van Dijk for the Netherlands, and he must be counting his lucky stars that he now partners one of the toughest defenders in domestic football at Juventus.

Having returned to the club Bonucci has been installed as captain, and he is the epitome of the granite defender Italian football has become famous for.

Sure, Ronaldo is as likely to dominate the Champions League 2019 news as anyone, but anyone who can breach the Juve defence deserves special mention.

Step up Joao Felix!

The early signs in Serie A are that the Old Lady may have a battle on her hands from Inter Milan. Antonio Conte has led the I Nerazurri to three successive wins at the top of the table and two points ahead of I Bianconeri as they dropped two points in a goalless draw away to Fiorentina on Saturday

Maurizio Sarri has a deep squad to call on, with players of the calibre of Federico Bernardeschi, Rodrigo Bentancur and Adrien Rabot vying for a place from the sidelines in the early part of the Serie A season.

History

In one of the 2018/2019 Champions League comebacks of the tournament, a second leg hat-trick by Ronaldo overturned a two goal deficit to see Juventus overcome Atleti in the most dramatic fashion imaginable. That took I Bianconeri through to the quarter finals and left Diego Simeone scratching his head. Ronaldo used his head to level the scores before slotting home a late penalty which sparked bedlam in Turin.

That was the Old Lady’s only victory over Los Rojiblancos is five attempts, while losing three and drawing one.

Atleti’s defeat to Sociedad ended a run of five consecutive wins for Simeone’s team while Juventus is unbeaten in four, and has four wins from the last six games.

But Los Rojiblancos are unbeaten in ten games at home.

Betting Tip

	Atletico Madrid vs Juventus	Atletico Madrid First Half Asian Handicap 0.00 @ 1.78
	September 19, 03:00 (GMT+8)

Atleti is at 2.44 to win this first competitive meeting since last season’s epic clash; with I Bianconeri at 2.91 and the draw is available at SBOBET odds of 3.15. The hosts will take heart from their 2-0 win at the Wanda Metropolitano, and shut out of their minds the eventual outcome. And they did beat Juve in the International Champions Cup in August.

I think it will be a tight game and 2-3 goals at 1.93 could be a decent alternative bet, but I expect Simeone’s team to take the game to their visitors.