Former champions prepare for summit meeting
Match background
They both started the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League with fixtures against two sides making their debut in Europe's premier club competition. Now Juventus and Real Madrid CF will consider that the challenge for the qualifying places in Group H is about to get serious as the two former winners come face to face in Turin.
• The meeting renews a keenly-contested rivalry between two teams who between them have lifted this trophy four times since the onset of the UEFA Champions League with a total of seven appearances in the final. They have been paired together six times in UEFA competition with the Italian side holding the recent upper hand with an aggregate victory in the first knockout round during the 2004/05 edition of Europe's premier club competition. Nevertheless, it could be the Madrid club who approach the game with greater confidence after their Matchday 2 win put them two points ahead of Juve.
• The Turin club earned a 2-2 draw away to FC BATE Borisov but even a single point looked beyond them after 23 minutes when they trailed 2-0. Goals by Sergei Kryvets and Igor Stasevich had rewarded a whirlwind start by Viktor Goncharenko's side, who were anxious to mark the first home appearance by a Belarussian club in the group stage in the most positive fashion. Then Vincenzo Iaquinta, standing in for the injured David Trezeguet, got to work and his header, followed by a low shot, earned the visitors a draw. It left Claudio Ranieri's men on four points from their first two games after they narrowly edged out FC Zenit St. Petersburg on 17 September thanks to Alessandro Del Piero's long-range free-kick.
• When these teams met in 2004/05, Juve's 2-0 win in the home leg saw them through after the first game had ended 1-0 in Madrid's favour. Trezeguet, a second-half substitute, wiped out the deficit with Marcelo Zalayeta scoring the winner four minutes from the end of extra time.
• The lineups for that second-leg match on 9 March 2005 were:
Juventus: Gianluigi Buffon, Gianluca Pessotto (Alessio Tacchinardi), Emerson, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Alessandro Del Piero (David Trezeguet), Mauro Camoranesi, Gianluca Zambrotta, Lilian Thuram, Marcelo Zalayeta (Ruben Olivera), Jonathan Zebina, Fabio Cannavaro.
Madrid: Iker Casillas, Roberto Carlos, Zinédine Zidane (Guti), Iván Helguera, Raúl González (Michael Owen), Ronaldo, Luís Figo, Raúl Bravo, Thomas Gravesen, Walter Samuel, David Beckham (Santiago Solari).
• The victory re-established Juventus's dominance over Spanish opponents in Turin after RC Deportivo La Coruña had recorded only the second victory by Liga visitors there in 17 UEFA competition matches. That came in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League first knockout round. The Bianconeri's previous defeat had come at the hands of Madrid in the 1961/62 European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-final. To date, Juve have won eleven, drawn five and lost two of the 18 matches they have staged against opponents from Spain.
• One of the Italian club's most important successes against Madrid came in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League semi-final as goals from Trezeguet, Del Piero and Pavel Nedvěd helped overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first game in the Spanish capital. That contest had also featured a Trezeguet goal which helped to set the Italian side up for their overall success. In the final, the Bianconeri drew 0-0 with AC Milan after extra time and a 3-2 loss on penalties denied Juve the chance to add to their 1996 crown.
• Bernd Schuster's Madrid team were also forced to pull out all the stops three weeks ago as they faced durable opponents in Zenit. An own goal by Tomáš Hubočan put the visitors on their way to a 2-1 victory. When Danny levelled, though, it appeared Zenit were building enough momentum to seize the lead. Instead it was the three-time UEFA Champions League winners who got their noses in front again as Ruud van Nistelrooy took advantage of more defensive uncertainty. After that, the visitors were able to withstand Zenit's strong efforts to find a second reply and their defensive efforts ensured them maximum points after two games. They began with a 2-0 victory against BATE in Madrid with Sergio Ramos and Van Nistelrooy on the scoresheet.
• Madrid have visited Italy 25 times, winning four, drawing five and losing 16. Three of those four wins have come in their last eight trips including a 3-0 defeat of AS Roma in the group stage of the 2004/05 season when Luís Figo scored twice.
• In 1998, Juventus and Madrid met in the UEFA Champions League final in Amsterdam when a Predrag Mijatović goal ended Los Merengues' 32-year wait to win their seventh European Champion Clubs' Cup title. The two sides also met in the 1995/96 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with Madrid winning 1-0 at home and Juve 2-0 in Turin. The Italian side went on to win the competition 4-2 on penalties against AFC Ajax following a 1-1 draw in Rome.
• The teams also locked horns in the second round of the 1986/87 European Cup when Madrid won on penalties after both teams triumphed 1-0 at home. Madrid advanced to the semi-finals before losing out to FC Bayern München, the eventual beaten finalists. The teams first met in that 1961/62 quarter-final and after both legs went to the away side 1-0, Madrid won the replay in Paris 3-1. The Spanish giants went on to lose to defending champions SL Benfica in the final at Amsterdam's Olympisch Stadium.
• Madrid centre-back Fabio Cannavaro spent two seasons with Juve between 2004 and 2006.
• Juventus players Olof Mellberg (Real Racing Club), Mohamed Sissoko (Valencia CF) and Christian Poulsen (Sevilla FC) have all played club football in Spain.
• Juve coach Ranieri had a short spell in charge at Madrid's city rivals Club Atlético de Madrid between 1999 and 2000 in additions to two stints as coach of Valencia (1997-99 and 2004/05).
• Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Alessandro Del Piero and Mauro Camoranesi all appeared for Italy against Spain in the UEFA EURO 2008™ quarter-final. Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos were in the opposing team.
• The other game in the group is between Zenit and BATE.
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that is definitely an excellent idea...we need somebody who is experienced and familiar with marking Raul/RVN...Knezevic is too fuckin useless
