Juventus travel to AS Monaco on Wednesday aiming to close out their Champions League quarter-final.
The runaway Serie A leaders, who are still in the running for three trophies this season, hold a 1-0 lead from last week's first leg in Turin, where Arturo Vidal scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot.
Monaco
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It would be fair to say that Monaco are probably the surprise name in the quarter-finals of the Champions League - a competition that they are participating in for the first time in nine years.
The principality outfit have a history of punching above their weight in Europe, having surprised many to reach the 2003-04 final, but they have hardly romped their way into the last eight this year.
Leonardo Jardim's side have won less matches en route to this stage than any of the other seven remaining teams and were perhaps fortunate to top a group in which Benfica were first seeds.
A 3-1 victory at Arsenal was a result that got them noticed, and they then rode their luck to protect their first-leg lead and knock out the Gunners on away goals in the last round.
Their 1-0 defeat at the Juventus Stadium last week means that they cannot take the same approach on Wednesday. Instead, Monaco must push forward in search of a goal without which they will be eliminated. Their attacking limitations are exemplified by the fact that none of their players have scored more than once in Europe this campaign.
Regardless of their Champions League fate, Monaco will be able to took back on this transitional season - prior to which they sold several their big-name players to focus on developing younger talent - with a great deal of pride.
They are third in the Ligue 1 table and on course to qualify for the Champions League again next term, although three draws from their last four games have created a six-point gap which will be stretched to nine should Paris Saint-Germain win their game in hand.
Recent form (all competitions): WDDWLD
Juventus
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The Champions League door may be opening for Juventus at just the right time, with tournament favourites Real Madrid and Bayern Munich - the last two winners - both in genuine danger of exiting at the last-eight stage.
Juve will expect to capitalise on their comparatively friendly quarter-final draw, particularly now, having prevented Monaco from scoring an away goal in the process of establishing a slim first-leg advantage.
The Old Lady have not gone beyond the last eight since losing in the final to Italian rivals AC Milan in the 2002-03 season, but are certainly in the form that makes them contenders for a third European Cup triumph, and first in 19 years.
Most bookmakers price them at 8-1 to win the competition, but those odds could plummet depending on the results of the other quarter-final ties.
There is little point betting on the outcome of the Serie A title race, however. Juve have surged clear of Roma since returning from the winter break and now hold a 15-point lead at the top with seven games remaining this term.
It is now Lazio - Juve's opponents in June's Coppa Italia final - who are second in the table, but their faint championship ambitions were ended courtesy of Massimiliano Allegri's side's 2-0 victory in Turin at the weekend.
Carlos Tevez and Leonardo Bonucci bagged the goals which secured Juve an eighth win in nine in all competitions, with a shock defeat at bankrupt Parma their only slip up. Ominously for Monaco, they had kept clean sheets in their three previous away games, including a thumping 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the last 16.
Recent form (all competitions): WWWLWW
Team News
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In-demand midfielder Paul Pogba is one of four absentees for the visitors, along with Kwadwo Asamoah, Romulo and Martin Caceres.
Allegri rested Alvaro Morata, Roberto Pereyra and Stephan Lichtsteiner against Lazio, but all three should return, with Andrea Barzagli among those to drop out as Juventus revert to a four-man defence.
Up front alongside Morata will be Carlos Tevez, whose 26 goals this season is over three times as many as former Manchester United teammate Dimitar Berbatov, but the Bulgarian's experience may see him get the nod over highly-rated youngster Anthony Martial for the hosts.
Monaco are missing key men Geoffrey Kondogbia and Jeremy Toulalan in midfield and so Fabinho could be asked to sit in front of a defence which will include Layvin Kurzawa and Aymen Abdennour after their weekend off.
Tiemoue Bakayoko missed the stalemate with Rennes and is also a doubt for this one.
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Subasic; Toure, Abdennour, Wallace, Kurzawa; Fabinho, Moutinho, Silva; Ferreira Carrasco, Matheus Carvalho; Berbatov
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Pereya, Pirlo, Marchisio; Vidal; Tevez, Morata
Head To Head
Prior to last week's first leg, these two sides had only previously met in the semi-finals of the 1997-98 Champions League.
A repeat of Monaco's 3-2 win at the Stade Louis II that year, in which a certain Thierry Henry was on the scoresheet, would not be enough for the French club to progress.
Juve won the two-legged tie of 17 years ago, only to go on to lose to Real Madrid in the final of the competition.
We say: Monaco 0-2 Juventus
Monaco have had a good run, but Juventus could prove to be one hurdle too many for Jardim's men. An away goal would almost certainly put the tie beyond the goal-shy hosts, and Juventus just seem too dangerous not to score.
Joe Fish
