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DPA
Rome
Juventus are again among the top contenders in the Champions League campaign they begin Wednesday with a challenging visit to Atletico Madrid.
Juve won the title twice and yearn to end a 23-year drought as they hold a negative record of seven defeats in nine continental finals, two in the past five editions.
They lost 2-0 to Atletico at the Wanda Metropolitano in the last season’s round of 16 in February, but Cristiano Ronaldo mended matters with a hat-trick in Turin for Juve.
Atletico come off a 2-0 defeat at Real Sociedad in domestic action, and Juve were far from shining in a 0-0 draw at Fiorentina, where their speedy winger Douglas Costa was replaced with muscular problems and will be out for at least two weeks.
A longer lay-off awaits defence veteran Giorgio Chiellini, who hopes the squad reaches the knock-out stage, when he should possibly be fit from knee surgery.
Chiellini’s heir, the young Dutch talent Matthijs de Ligt, joined from Ajax for 75 million euros after scoring a goal that eliminated Juve in the quarter-finals and is learning the ropes with the veterans under new coach Maurizio Sarri.
The former boss of Napoli and Chelsea, where he won the last Europa League, recovered from pneumonia, but had a lacklustre debut in Florence.
The general impression is that the Bianconeri are struggling in the switch from the utilitarian tenets of Massimiliano Allegri to Sarri’s fast and sparkling game.
The Serie A champions, however, found encouragement from their former boss Marcello Lippi, who has enjoyed success with Guangzhou Evergrande and currently steers the Chinese national squad.
“Juve are after something different and it will take some time,” said Lippi, who won five Scudetti and the Champions League at Juve, plus the 2006 world title with Italy.
“They, however, will give their best as they do every year. There is nothing strange. Probably (Sarri) did not expect to have to manage such a rich line-up. But there is respect (from the squad) and awareness that it takes months to chance method of playing and working.”
French world champion Blaise Matuidi, meanwhile, cannot wait to begin the chase of the coveted trophy, after lifting the last two in Juve’s record run of eight domestic titles.
“We know the importance of the Champions League matches,” the midfielder said.
“We will go to Madrid looking for the result. We have a team that can do great things, but playing at Atletico, which we know well, is never easy.”
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18/09/2019
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