Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe, the long-time pillars of the Portuguese national team and former Real Madrid teammates, return to the pitch, but on different sides of the battle. Pepe leads the home team, Porto, against Cristiano Ronaldos Juventus.
This UEFA Champions League Round of 16 clash will take place at the Estádio do Dragão. Both clubs enter the matchup with mixed form. The Portuguese are unbeaten in seven matches, but the last four were draws, allowing Sporting Portugal to climb even further ahead in the league table.
Juventus run of seven games unbeaten recently ended at the hands of a resolute Napoli side. Of those seven games, only one was a draw, which was the match against Inter just before the game against Napoli, leaving Juventus two games without a win.
This tactical analysis will pit the tactics of these two southern European giants against each other, deciphering how the teams will approach the tie in search of a first-leg advantage. Well talk about how Porto will look to initiate play from defence, how Juventus can counter their tactics in the early attacking phases and the importance of half space penalty box entries to both teams.
Predicted Lineups
Porto’s predicted lineup (4-4-2) – Agustín Marchesín; Wilson Manafá, Chancel Mbemba, Pepe, Zaidu Sanusi; Jesús Corona, Sérgio Oliveira, Mateus Uribe, Luis Díaz; Moussa Marega, Mehdi Taremi
Sérgio Conceição has leaned heavily on a 4-4-2 this season and will likely use that formation in this matchup with Porto looking to avoid conceding, but also wanting to grab a home goal. That’s why I expect them to this formation instead of the 3-4-2-1 they used against Manchester City.
Marchesín will get the starting goal. The backline will be anchored by Pepe. Hell be joined by the trio of Manafá, Mbemba and Sanusi. From right to left in midfield, look for “Tecatito” Corona, Oliveira, Uribe and Díaz. At the two forward positions, Taremi and Marega will look to stretch the backlines with aggressive runs into space.
Juventus’ predicted lineup (4-4-2) – Wojciech Szczęsny; Danilo, Matthijs de Ligt, Leonardo Bonucci, Alex Sandro; Weston McKennie, Rodrigo Bentancur, Adrien Rabiot, Federico Chiesa; Álvaro Morata, Cristiano Ronaldo
Andrea Pirlos likely to use his 4-4-2/3-5-2 hybrid. With Szczęsny in goal, look for Danilo, de Ligt and Bonucci to earn the starts and play fairly deep. Meanwhile, Sandro is likely to start on the left and offer width on that wing. Bentancur and Rabiot will offer a central defensive presence in the midfield while McKennie and Chiesa play on the outside while targeting the half spaces. Look for them to play just beneath the two forwards, Ronaldo and Morata.
