Italy look up to Ronaldo to pull them through

Cristiano Ronaldo was supposed to be the missing piece of the jigsaw for Juventus in their quest to regain the Summit of Europe for the first time since 1995-96, the Italian club splashing out 117 million euros to bring the five-times winner of the continents elite club competition to Turin last summer.

But after Juves 2-0 defeat at Atlético Madrid in the first leg of the last 16 clash between the sides, the Serie A clubs ambitions hang by a thread. Runners-up five times since their last triumph, Juve will have to score at least twice without reply in the Allianz Stadium to take the tie to extra-time, but the Italian media have been busy collating Ronaldos statistics in the competition – and against the LaLiga side – and speculating an extra half-hour may not be necessary.

Tuttosport ran a headline sounding a rallying cry for the Old Lady: Juve? Coming back from 2-0 down? Cristiano has already done it…” in allusion to the 2015-16 Champions League when Wolfsburg took a 2-0 advantage to the Bernabéu and Ronaldo bagged a hat-trick to turn the tie around.

Ronaldo to the rescue?

The Portugueses statistics in the competition also make for impressive reading. Ronaldo has scored twice or more in a Champions League game 34 times, with 27 doubles, six hat-tricks and a four-goal haul against Malmö.

Against Atlético, Ronaldo has 22 goals, including three hat-tricks and one brace. One of those hat-tricks came in the Champions League, in the 2016-17 semi-finals.

However, Under Diego Simeone, Atlético have never lost a Champions League tie after triumphing in the opening leg. Juventus, meanwhile, have never overturned a 2-0 deficit in European competition home or away.

If Ronaldo is to save the day for Juve, he will need to write another piece of history in Turin on March 13.

Squad Changes For Champions league Round of 16 confirmed

The squad changes for the knockout phase have been confirmed, with the England international back in contention
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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been added to Liverpool’s Champions League squad for the knockout phase.

The England midfielder has not played this season since sustaining serious knee ligament damage in the semi-finals of the 2017-18 competition.

He has been added to the final 25-man group for the last-16 onwards, though, along with 17-year-old Ki-Jana Hoever and Ben Woodburn, who is on the B list.

Juventus have chosen to drop Juan Cuadrado, meanwhile, with the winger recovering from an operation on his left knee in December.

Barcelona have added B-team forward Moussa Wague to their squad, along with new signings Jeison Murillo and Kevin-Prince Boateng.

Alvaro Morata is in the Atletico Madrid squad as expected, while Real Madrid have added Brahim Diaz, who joined from Manchester City last month.

City have named Claudio Bravo on their list, with Eliaquim Mangala dropping out having not appeared for the club in the 2018-19 campaign.

All last-16 contenders were permitted to register a maximum of three new A-list players for the last 16 before the deadline of midnight CET last Saturday.

And the news regarding Oxlade-Chamberlain’s inclusion will come as a boost for Liverpool and the player himself, with the Reds facing Bayern Munich in the last 16.

It is unclear exactly when the 25-year-old will be available to play again, although he posted on social media back in December to confirm that he was now able to begin running outdoors.

And Klopp revealed in January that he was hopeful he’d be able to play a part before the end of the season, hence his inclusion in the Champions League squad.

The German said: “He is in a very good way. That will still take a couple of… last time I put a bit of pressure on the medical department.

“But when I see him moving the ball and what he’s doing already it looks really good, promising, close to a return.

“But after so long out – April, against Roma – he will be fine, he looks completely without any problems at the moment, no swelling any more, so he can really work on his fitness issues.

“It’s a surprise. He’s ahead of schedule. That’s always good news. We try not to push him too much but we don’t want to hold him back.

“If he makes further steps like he did in the last few weeks he can play Premier League football this season which is nice to know. I think we will see him this season.”

Luck not on Juventus’ side with Champions League draw, says Nedved

The Italian side were paired with Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid in the last 16 of the competition, much to the dismay of the vice-chairman Pavel Nedved lamented Juventus’ misfortune after the Bianconeri were paired with Atletico Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League on Monday.

Juve continue to blaze a trail domestically- they have won the last seven scudetti and already established an eight-point lead at the summit this season after 16 games- but have not been crowned European champions since 1996.

They recruited Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid to bolster an already imposing squad but Nedved was relatively downbeat when asked to assess the clash with the defending Europa League champions.

Nedved said:‘we didn’t have much luck. Atletico are a difficult side to face, they are more of an Italian-style team than European. They have a strong defense that plays well together, and they know how to play into the forwards with Griezmann and others.

‘I foresee two very even matches, with few goals. We have been drawn the strongest possible opponent, but there is no problem. Cristiano Ronaldo may be the man of the Champions League but the is strong and we can be confident in our ability to qualify for the quarter-finals’

Juve midfielder Sami Khedira, another former Real Madrid man, has also predicted a difficult game against Diego Simeone’s side.