Madrid set to push Juve to the brink

Ancelotti's squad will all but slam the door with a win in Turin

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti can push his former club Juventus and disciple Antonio Conte closer to the Champions League exit door with a victory in Turin on Tuesday.

The two teams, which have won the competition 11 times between them, were both expected to comfortably progress from Group B, and Tuesday's match was initially seen as little more than some early - and heavy - sparring for the knockout rounds.

But, after drawing with Galatasaray and Copenhagen and then losing 2-1 in Madrid two weeks ago, Juventus is suddenly fighting for survival.

Ancelotti would be unlikely to admit it, but he could gain some grim satisfaction if he succeeds in helping eliminate his former club.

He had two difficult years at Juventus early in his coaching career, where despite twice leading it to second place in Series A he was sacked on the last day of the 2000-01 season.

Conte, who has led Juventus to two successive Serie A titles, was his swashbuckling captain at the time and has since gone on to become one of Europe's top coaches - although he has sometimes shown exasperation at his club's lack of financial clout.

A win for Real, whose only previous away win against Juventus was 51 years ago, would send it into the last 16 with two matches to spare and leave third-place Juve with only two points from four games.

Should Galatasaray win away to FC Copenhagen in Tuesday's other Group B game, Juventus would find itself five points behind the Turkish champion with a trip to Istanbul still to come.

Winless run

Juventus has failed to win its last five Champions League ties, a run that started when it lost both legs of its quarterfinal to Bayern Munich last season.

Three of those matches have been at home at Juventus Stadium, which the club had hoped to turn into an impenetrable fortress when it was opened two years ago.

On the other hand, the club has won its last three Serie A matches without conceding a goal and will be hoping that Real's defence will be caught off guard, having leaked five goals in its last two La Liga outings.

"Real has plenty of strong players up front who sometimes help out less in defensive areas, which puts their backline under pressure," Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio said on Sunday.

"We managed to defend well in Spain, enjoy possession and cause them problems."

Juventus will be without defender Giorgio Chiellini, who was sent off at the Bernabeu two weeks ago, leaving Marchisio as the only survivor from the team that beat Real on its last visit to Turin five years ago.

"Even when down to 10 we played an excellent game in terms of our attention and chances created," he said of their last meeting.

"We must do this again on Tuesday night, whilst being cautious of their threat on the counter through the likes of Angel Di Maria, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale."

(China Daily 11/05/2013 page23)