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Juventus defensive record dampens Barcelona comeback hopes

Given what happened the last time Barcelona were tasked with overturning a seemingly unassailable...



Juventus defensive record damp...
Soccer

Juventus defensive record dampens Barcelona comeback hopes

Given what happened the last time Barcelona were tasked with overturning a seemingly unassailable first leg deficit, there is little point making any predictions about how they'll fare against Juventus tonight.

Luis Enrique's side can't be dismissed too lightly ahead of their Champions League quarter final second leg at the Nou Camp, given that they "only" trail 3-0 from the first leg.

Paris Saint Germain thought they had secured a landmark triumph when they won their first leg 4-0 against Barca last month, only for the Catalans to roar back in a 6-1 home win which wasn't without its moments of controversy or general PSG ineptitude.

Juventus will be a much tougher nut to crack defensively than the French champions. 

The Serie A champions have only conceded 20 goals in 32 league fixtures so far and have kept six clean sheets from their eight Champions League matches so far, conceding just twice.

Granted, neither FC Porto, Sevilla, Lyon and Dinamo Zagreb are on the level of Barcelona - albeit a team not at the peak of a few seasons ago - but most of those teams our tricky opponents with talent up front. 

But as mentioned already, Juventus are defensively strong, with experience throughout the squad. The back line especially though is staffed by wily defenders like Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini who have the ability to contain even outstanding attacking talents like Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar. 

And the Bianconeri have not conceded three goals in a league or Champions League match since last November when Genoa beat them 3-1, although last March, Bayern Munich did stick four past them in their Champions League last 16 second leg - two of those Bayern goals came in extra time however.

But in normal time, other than that Genoa loss, the last time Juve conceded three times in normal time in Serie A or in Europe was the 2015 Champions League final when goals from Ivan Rakitic, Suarez and Neymar gave Barca the trophy.

That was then Barca were on a relative peak in the post Pep Guardiola era and while they have the talent to replicate that goal haul, doing so in consecutive rounds is a distant prospect, notwithstanding the fact that even one goal from one Juventus' forward talents like Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain would severely hamper Barca hopes since they haven't got an away goal to count on from the first leg. 

Barca need three goals without conceding to force extra time and that's as tall an order as one could imagine against a team like Juve.

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