Statistics, analysis and forecast: Atletico Madrid – Juventus

Atletico Madrid host Juventus in the first match of Group D valid for the new 2019/20 Champions League season.

Place: Wanda Metropilitano
Time: Wednesday, 9pm

News about teams

Atletico Madrid
Alvaro Morata and Thomas Partey are both suspected of meeting Juventus today. The former will be hoping to recover in time to play against his former club.

A blow to the face forced Jan Oblak to be replaced in the second half of the defeat to Real Sociedad at the weekend and Diego Simeone will be hoping to have his goalkeeper available.

Joao Felix made his poorest performance of the season for Atletico at the weekend, but he looks certain to be the headliner today.

Summer signing Marcos Llorente has been trying to make a real impact so far for Atletico, but Simeone may have no choice but to do so if Partey fails to recover in time. Alternatively, Atletico can line up in a 4-4-2 lineup.

Stefan Savic and Mario Hermoso are fighting to become Jose Gimenez’s partner at the center of defense for Atletico. Meanwhile, Vitolo and Angel Correa are in the running for a right-back if Atletico goes 4-4-2.

Juventus
Emre Can was surprisingly left out of the Juventus squad in the Champions League.

Matthijs de Ligt has not made the best of his Juventus career start and faces a tough test as Giorgio Chiellini will miss the long term.

Douglas Costa has been a regular title under Maurizio Sarrin so far this season, but misses the challenge today due to injury. Miralem Pjanic, however, is close to a comeback and can play today.

Blaise Matuidi and Sami Khedira were free to leave Juventus in the summer, but both have featured so far this season and are expected to line up in midfield once again. Aaron Ramsey, Adrien Rabiot and Rodrigo Bentancur will be pressing for the title.

It remains to be seen whether Sarri will play Wojciech Szczesny or hand Gianluigi Buffon his first appearance since returning to Juventus this summer.

Facts
Atletico have won their last three home games against Juventus in all competitions.

Analysis
Atletico’s 100 percent start to the season came at the weekend after losing 2-0 to Real Sociedad.

Juventus stopped with a 0-0 draw from Fiorentina last time out and are not yet entering the game required by new coach Sarri.

Juventus have started the season with two wins in three games but victories over Parma and Napoli were by a single goal difference.

Atletico may have a better chance of beating Juventus this season, but they will have the attention of Cristiano Ronaldo, who has a fantastic record against Diego Simeone’s squad.

Forecast: Atletico Madrid 2-1 Juventus