Juventus are aiming to make it three semi-final appearances in five seasons, as they take an away goal advantage into this one.
‘The Old Lady’ should be confident of progressing, with Juventus teams losing only three of 37 European fixtures at their current home since its 2011 opening (W22, D12, L3).
The Italian champions-elect are also unbeaten in each of their last seven encounters against Eredivisie sides (W4, D3), and have progressed from four of their five historic two-legged ties vs Dutch opposition. Ajax, for their part, have been eliminated in three of their last four two-legged ties against Italian opposition.
In the previous round, Ajax overturned a 2-1 home defeat to eliminate the holders, Real Madrid. They will need to show the same fighting spirit here, and a 1-1 draw in Amsterdam in the first leg means that Ajax have now drawn five of their last six matches vs Serie A opposition.
Relevantly, no side has equalised after going behind in this season’s CL more than Ajax (six times). However, even that might not be necessary, as Ajax teams are unbeaten in their last four away trips to Italy (W2, D2) having kept a clean sheet on all occasions.
Players to watch: With five goals and two assists, Cristiano Ronaldo has played a part in each of Juventus’ last seven CL goals, and scored his 125th CL goal in the first leg.
Meanwhile, Klaas-jan Huntelaar became the oldest Ajax player to score an Eredivisie hat-trick over the weekend, at the age of 35 years and 244 days.
Stat attack: Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri is yet to win in five H2Hs against Ajax (D4, L1).
Furthermore, he has never seen his side on the day score more than one goal.
If necessary, Ajax will do well to defy a poor historic record of: W1, L5, in UEFA competition penalty shootouts.
Will not play
Caceres M.(Muscle Injury) Bande H.(Ankle Injury)
Chiellini G.(Calf Injury) Eiting C.(Knee Injury)
Mandzukic M.(Knee Injury) Tagliafico N.(Yellow Cards)
Perin M.(Shoulder Injury)
Match Information
Referee: Turpin C. (Fra),
Venue: Allianz Stadium (Turin)
Live streaming here
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