Juventus v Borussia Monchengladbach – Preview: Leaders Bianconeri host winless Die Fohlen

Date: 19th October 2015 at 7:00pm
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Morata goal Juventus Manchester CityJuventus host Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday night at the Juventus Stadium in their third Group D fixture in the Champions League.

Both teams have had contrasting form in Europe’s premier competition going into this clash. The Bianconeri are on top of their group after defeating Manchester City 2-1 and winning 2-0 against Sevilla whereas the Fohlen are on the bottom after losing 3-0 to the Rojiblancos and 2-1 to Citizens.

In their national leagues, the form of the two sides vary. Juve drew 0-0 against Inter on Sunday night and have only won two Serie A matches all season. Moenchengladbach lost their first five Bundesliga matches under Lucien Favre but they have won their last four since Andre Schubert has taken over, which includes the 5-1 away win against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

These two sides have faced each other before back in the 1975/76 edition of the old European Cup. Borussia Monchengladbach won 4-2 on aggregate in the second round against Juventus, winning 2-0 in Dusseldorf and drawing 2-2 in Turin.

Juve triumphed over German opposition last season in the Champions League when they eliminated Borussia Dortmund 5-1 on aggregate in the Round of 16. Monchengladbach were not successful when they last faced Italian opposition, losing 5-3 on aggregate to Lazio in Round of 32 in the Europa League in 2012-13.

It was back in the 1979-80 edition of the UEFA Cup in which Borussia Monchengladbach achieved a victory against an Italian team, eliminating Inter 4-3 on aggregate in the second round. Both legs ended 1-1 but the second leg in Milan went into extra time and Die Fohlen won 3-2.

The Bianconeri will be missing Stephan Lichtsteiner, who had heart surgery recently, and Martin Caceres, who has an ankle injury. The Fohlen will be without Nico Schulz and Patrick Herrmann with knee injuries and Granit Xhaka is likely to miss out with an ankle injury despite playing on the weekend.

Form Guide: Juventus (W-D-L-W-W-D) Borussia Moenchengladbach (L-W-W-L-W-W)

Expected Starting XIs

Juventus: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Cuadrado, Khedira, Marchisio, Pogba, Evra; Dybala, Morata

Borussia Moenchengladbach: Sommer; Korb, Christensen, Dominguez, Wendt; Traore, Nordtveit, Dahoud, Johnson; Raffael, Stindl

 

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