The Time to Shine for the Old Lady

For all their domestic dominance in Serie A, Juventus have been less than impressive in Europe over recent years. Now however, they have received a favourable draw, and could find themselves in their first semi-final since the 2002/2003 season.

Leading the Serie A by fourteen points with ten games to go, I'm sure Massimiliano Allegri is pretty confident that the Scudetto is staying in Turin and has the luxury of concentrating their efforts elsewhere. Having won the last 3 Serie A titles under fan favourite Antonio Conte, the value of domestic silverware is waning and Allegri will be hoping to restore Juventus back to the European Stage.

There is no reason why the Old Lady can reach a semi-final with a quarter final tie against Monaco. Fresh from a riveting win over Arsenal, The principality club will offer stiff opposition, not to be underestimated, as the Gunners found out in the previous round. From the first leg it was evident that the pace they have in Anthony Martial and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco are devastating when playing on the counter attack and the unpredictability that Berbatov brings will ask Juve questions that need to be answered.

The away leg first will suit the Ligue 1 side better meaning that they know what they have to do when in the home leg. For Juventus they will have to combat the pace on the flanks, through Stephan Lichsteiner and Patrice Evra. Defensively, The Turin side are solid, particularly in the league, only conceding 14 goals in 28 games domestically. Not only this season, but over the past years, Juve have had an excellent defence, compared to those of the top European sides.

Similar to Juventus, Monaco also have an exceptional defence. Coach Leonardo Jardim has transformed the defence, particularly with Aymen Abdennour at the heart. The Tunisian was a star performer in the Arsenal tie and constantly put his body on the line for his club. The defence was well organised as Alexis, Welbeck, Oxlade-Chamberlain or Walcott never faced any one on ones. If Juventus' midfield can isolate Tevez or Morata with a defender, they will have the beating of them. With Juve likely to have most of the ball, they should hope to play the ball to the feet of Tevez and look for Morata to feed off him.

At home, I expect Juventus to record a positive result. In the league they have a near flawless record, blemished by the odd draw. Since October 2010, they have only lost twice, once on penalties in the Super Cup against Napoli in late December and the second in the Coppa Italia tie versus Fiorentina at the beginning of March. This is a phenomenal record, regardless of the quality of teams in the league. Monaco will find it very hard to leave Turin with a draw, never mind a precious victory.

In the away leg, if they get a good result at home, then Juventus can return back to their stereotypically defensive side that epitomised Italian football for many years. It's a risky strategy, but with the defensive prowess of the Old Lady, I wouldn't be surprised if they were able to pull this off. Monaco seemed comfortable sacrificing possession to Arsenal - they had 43% at the Emirates and 30% at home - so expect Pogba, Pirlo, Vidal and co. to dictate the tempo of the play. A victory for Juve would pose a difficult situation for Monaco as they may have to negate their defensive duties in search of a goal. This would suit Juve, particularly through the speed of Tevez, Morata and Lichtsteiner. 

Up front, they also have a bite. Carlos Tevez has proven a useful signing, scoring 16 goals. Alvaro Morata has edged out Fernando Llorente over the last few weeks, as he offers more mobility. Llorente is often used as a go to man whenever they are in great need of a goal. His height and physicality allows the wide men to swing balls into the air, and he often delivers.

The Madrid derby will undoubtedly overshadow this, but I look forward to this just as much. Juventus adopt a 4-3-3 formation instead of the standard 3-5-2/5-3-2 that we were used to seeing during the Conte era. A 4-3-3 will match up against Monaco, who play a similar formation. Lichsteiner loves to get forward on the right, and this could be somewhere which Monaco may be able to exploit.

While Paul Pogba was an icon during previous season, his exploits this year have only added to his value. The young Frenchman is their linchpin and he will be at the centre of any European success in the next few years. Similarly, they have Kingsley Coman, a young attacker, highly rated in the Juve ranks. We know Tevez can unlock any defence as we know, and the defence is solid. It’s written in the stars for Juventus FC.

I would tip Juventus to progress to the semi-finals, as Monaco are a relatively young team, and this could be one step too far for the French side. As for the semis, I’m not convinced they are able to compete at the top level against the European elite. This is a massive opportunity for Juventus and Turin will be bouncing when Les Monegasques visit on the 14^th April.