Juventus will hit the road to square up against SC Freiburg in the Europa League Round of 16 second leg as they look to progress to the next round.
SC Freiburg will host Italian giants Juventus in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League Round of 16. The Italian club will look to build on their 1-0 lead and make it into the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, the German outfit will look to cause an upset in their quest for the European title.
The first leg between the two teams ended 1-0 in favour of Juventus. The Italian outfit were dominant on their home turf. However, they could not manage to convert the numerous chances they created. Even after having twenty attempts at goal, they found the back of the net just once. As a result, Freiburg are still very much alive in this tie.
The German club have managed to bounce back after their 1-0 loss against Juventus away from home. They are heading into the second leg on the back of a 2-1 win over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. It was not their best performance, but they did manage to get back to winning ways.
Meanwhile, SC Freiburg are currently fifth in the Bundesliga with 45 points out of their 24 matches. They are fighting for a top-four finish and are level on points with third-placed RB Leipzig. However, the German club will have to focus on the European competition for time being with the tough task of knocking Juventus out at their hands.
Christian Streich’s men have not been at their best of late. They have only won two of their last five matches in all competitions. However, they will look to have a better outing against Juventus. The visitors were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League group stage as they finished third in Group H. And, 15 points were docked off from their ongoing league campaign because of financial breaches in the past.
It was all going wrong for them, but it looks like they have managed to recover well under Massimiliano Allegri. The Italian giants have got the right results of late and have jumped up from being 10th in the league to 7th. While a top-four finish looks unlikely for Allegri’s men, they can still manage to get a European spot a finishing inside the top six.
The Italian giants are heading into this match on the back of a 4-2 win over Sampdoria. While their defence was not up to their best, they did get the desired result on the back of Adrien Rabiot’s heroics. And, they will be keen on getting the job done against the German outfit in the Europa League. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at this fixture and tries to predict the tactics they could deploy.
Team News & Tactics
SC Freiburg
Christian Streich will be without the services of Daniel-Kofi Kyereh, who is out for the rest of the season with an ACL tear. Philipp Lienhart joined Kyereh on the bench after he sustained a thigh injury in the first leg. The 26-year-old missed their last fixture and is likely to be out for this fixture as well.
#JUVSCF 1:0 (90.)
Schluss! Noch alles drin! pic.twitter.com/R3SEdawm51— SC Freiburg (@scfreiburg) March 9, 2023
Meanwhile, the German outfit do have a boost as Jeong Woo-yeong has recovered from illness. Manuel Gulde could feature in defence if Lienhart misses out.
SC Freiburg are likely to return to the 3-4-3 formation after shifting to 4-4-2 for their league fixture against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. Mark Flekken will take charge in the goal, while Kiliann Sildillia, Matthias Ginter and Gulde will make the back three.
Lukas Kubler and Christian Gunter will start out wide as the wing-backs. They will look to provide the width as well as help out the back three. Maximilian Eggestein will team up with Nicolas Hofler in the centre of the park as they look to try and dictate the pace of the game.
Vincenzo Grifo and Roland Sallai will start as the wingers. The duo will look to stretch the Juventus defence and cut inside to link up with their frontman Lucas Holer who was left isolated in the first leg.
Probable Lineup (3-4-3): Flekken; Sildillia, Ginter, Gulde; Kubler, Eggestein, Hofler, Gunter; Sallai, Holer, Grifo
Juventus
The Italian giants will be without the services of Arkadiusz Milik. The 29-year-old Polish striker has been injured for a while now. They do have a few major concerns heading into the second leg than they did in the first.
👋 Sunshine and smiles from the JTC ☀️😀 pic.twitter.com/8iMaVCT0mT
— JuventusFC 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@juventusfcen) March 15, 2023
Massimilano Allegri’s team have received two major blows of late as Federico Chiesa and Paul Pogba are back on the sidelines due to injuries. They do have a boost as Mattia De Sciglio returned to action in their previous fixture against Sampdoria.
Wojciech Szczesny will start in goal as Allegri is expected to start with the 3-5-2 formation. Gleison Bremer, Danilo, and Alex Sandro will form the back three for the Italian giants. Juan Cuadrado and Filip Kostic will start as the wingbacks as Juventus will look to attack from the flanks.
The in-form French midfielder Adrien Rabiot will pair up with Manuel Locatelli and Nicolo Fagioli in the centre of the park. Locatelli and Fagioli will look to stay back and dictate the pace of the game while Rabiot goes up and joins the attack. In attack, the creative force of Angel Di Maria will pair up with Dusan Vlahovic, who has been on a goal drought of late.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Szczesny; Danilo, Bremer, Sandro; Cuadrado, Fagioli, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Di Maria; Vlahovic
Key Stats
- SC Freiburg are all set to square up against an Italian side for the first time at home when Juventus visit them for the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second leg.
- Juventus have only lost one out of their last nine matches against German opponents in European competitions.
- SC Freiburg are unbeaten in the second leg of a major European knockout tie. They have won two and drawn two.
- In each of their last nine European ties, the Italian giants Juventus have not failed to make it to the next round after winning the first leg.
- The hosts Freiburg are unbeaten at home in the Europa League this season. They have two wins and one draw at home in the UEL.
Player to Watch
Adrien Rabiot
Rabiot has been doing wonders in the centre of the park for the last few seasons. He has revived himself and is currently amongst the best midfielders in Italy. The French midfielder has 11 goal contributions in 31 outings.
The 27-year-old was on fire in their last outing as he found the back of the net on two occasions. And, Allegri will expect his ace midfielder to once again step up and get the job done in the second leg. Meanwhile, suitors like Liverpool and Manchester United might keep a keen eye on him.
Prediction
SC Freiburg 0-2 Juventus
Juventus had a dominating display in the first leg but could only find the back of the net once at home. Meanwhile, the Italian giants are expected to produce a similar performance and get the job done.
While they will be missing a couple of star players, they still have enough in their tank. On the other hand, the home team, who managed to keep the Juventus attack quiet and conceded just once, in the first leg will look to bounce back. They are expected to try and be a bit more attacking which could backfire. The Italian giants are expected to come out on the right side of the result. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-0 win for the visitors.
