TV TIMINGS
relationship with Manchester United and their fans, the Champions League’s all-time top-scorer has shown no mercy.
with Real Madrid, the Spanish giants faced United on three occasions. Ronaldo scored twice over the two legs in the round of 16 ties, including scoring the winning goal at Old Trafford that ensured Real’s progression and United’s exit. off in his first CL game for
Juventus against Valencia, Ronaldo will be looking to put the disappointing start behind him. He will also be keen to catch up with Lionel Messi, who has scored five goals in his first two games.
a goal in the European competition this season. With the Argentine likely to miss the next two games with a broken arm, Ronaldo can make up.
face to face with former manager Jose Mourinho, under whom he scored 60 times in 55 matches during the 2011-12 campaign at Real. But when on opposite sides, Ronaldo has not fared well against Jose.
has scored only one goal against Mourinho-coached teams in 14 appearances. In United colours Ronaldo failed to net against Jose’s Chelsea, only ending his dry spell with a goal against the Portuguese’s Inter in 2009.
chia Signora paid Madrid 112 million euros for a 33-year-old.
“Juventus is one of the teams in Europe that invested to win the Champions League,” added Mourinho when the draw was made. “They don’t need to invest to win the Scudetto (Italian league title). They’ve won the Scudetto for seven years.”
Top scorer in the Champions League for the past six years, Ronaldo is yet to break his Euro- (all competitions) United: Romelu Lukaku, Anthony Martial, Paul Pogba Juventus: Cristiano Ronaldo
pean duck with Juventus after being sent-off just 30 minutes into his Champions League debut for the club against Valencia, and missing the visit of Young Boys through suspension.
Juventus proved despite the fanfare surrounding his signing, they remain much more than just Ronaldo by winning both games comfortably anyway to sit top of the group and well-placed for the last 16.
United’s situation is more perilous as a 0-0 draw at home to Valencia last time out leaves them with work to do despite also easing past Young Boys 3-0.
A run of four wins from their first nine Premier League games also does little to suggest they are likely to inflict Juve’s first defeat of the season.
Even against old friends, United know from experience Ronaldo rarely shows any mercy. only big name set to face his old club. Man United’s star midfielder Paul Pogba, who moved to Manchester on a then world record fee from Juventus, will take on his old friends.
to the season, the French World Cup winner has been below-par in the past few outings and was responsible for Antonio Rudiger’s goal against United (vs Chelsea). And given his strewn relationship with Mourinho and growing rumours of a possible transfer, Pogba will have much to prove against his old club. AEK Athens v Bayern Munich, live on Sony Ten 2 & HD, 10:25pm Young Boys v Valencia, live on Sony Ten 1 & HD, 10:25pm Shakhtar v Man City, live on Sony Ten 1 & HD, 12:30am (Wed) Hoffenheim v Lyon, live on Sony Ten 3 & HD, 12:30am (Wed) Real Madrid v Plzen, live on Sony Six & HD, 12:30m (Wed) AS Roma v CSKA Moscow, live on Sony ESPN & HD,
12:30am (Wed)
Manchester United v Juventus, live on Sony Ten 2 & HD,
12:30am (Wed)
Real Madrid’s players may have offered a show of public support to Julen Lopetegui but failing to win at home against Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday and their words will mean very little.
Three months into the season, there are few obvious alternatives if the club’s president Florentino Perez decides to wield the axe. Santiago Solari, coach of Castilla, Real Madrid’s B team, could take charge in the shortterm but the troubled search for a suitable coach in the summer would not appear much smoother now.
Mauricio Pochettino, Juergen Klopp and Max Allegri would all be near-impossible to sign midseason, while Joachim Loew is still attached to Germany.
Antonio Conte is out of work but there is an issue with the Italian’s style of play, not to mention any legal wranglings around his compensation package with Chelsea. Arsene Wenger would be fascinating but high-risk.
LOWLY CHALLENGE
For Lopetegui to call off the search, victory is surely essential at the Santiago Bernabeu against Plzen, the Czech team that have only won two Champions League