The most prestigious club competition in European football makes its long awaited return this week and Serie A champions Juventus will be looking to improve on their showing in previous years this time around, beginning on Tuesday as they host Swedish side Malmö.
Both sides are the champions of their respective countries, however, Juve will no doubt be expecting to claim all three points to kick start their European campaign for another season. The Scandinavian side currently sit top of the Swedish Allsvenskanliga with 49 points from their 23 games played, five points clear of second placed AIK.
Unlike the Italian side, Malmö had to face qualification for the Champions League and came through ties against FK Ventspils, Sparta Prague and Austrian champions FC Salzburg en route to the group stages. In qualifying for the group stages, Malmö have achieved something no Swedish side have done since the 2000/01 season.
It is no secret that the main priority for Massimiliano Allegri this season is to impose the club on the latter stages of the Champions League, having seen Antonio Conte struggle to do so in the last three seasons. Granted, the club reached the quarter-finals in 2012/13 but have seen themselves eliminated prematurely in the last two seasons. It has been 11 years since the Bianconeri made it to the semi-finals of Europe’s most elite club competition and that is something Allegri will be determined to change.
The Old Lady come in to this game with maximum points from their opening Serie A fixtures, having beaten Udinese and Chievo without conceding a goal. Albeit against inferior opposition, but the feat is still impressive considering the injury problems facing Allegri’s men.
Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal and Giorgio Chiellini all sat out the Udinese match with injury problems, and they are unlikely to make a return midweek. Andrea Barzagli is still on the road to regaining full fitness and wasn’t included in the matchday squad. Roberto Pereyra will miss the game through suspension, which will force Allegri to make at least one change to his starting eleven selected in both Serie A fixtures this season.
While Malmö will be looking to mark the 50th anniversary of their first European match with a win, their form has not been as impressive of late. Although they sit five points clear at the top of the Swedish Allsvenskanliga, they have managed to win just once in their last four domestic games.
Should they manage to see out the remainder of the season as leaders, they will become the first team to retain the Allsvenskanliga since Djurgårdens IF in 2003. The key man for Juve to watch out for will be club captain Markus Rosenberg, who has found the net 10 times in his last 11 appearances in all competitions.
Expected Starting XIs
Juventus (3-5-2): Buffon; Caceres, Bonucci, Ogbonna; Lichtsteiner, Padoin, Marchisio, Pogba, Evra: Tevez, Llorente.
Malmö (4-3-3): Olsen; Concha, Helander, Konate, Tinnerholm; Forsberg, Halsti, Adu; Eriksson, Thelin, Rosenberg.
