Real test for Juve, Ron begins at Atletico Man City must win to be among elite: Gundogan
Turin side will bank on forward’s performance to end their 22-year wait for Champions League glory
MILAN: Unbeaten in the league with only six points dropped and 13 points clear at the top, Juventus have been utterly dominant in the Serie A this season and seem all but certain to win an eighth successive title.
But, for all their ruthless efficiency, the Turin side — who have the best attacking and defensive records in the league — have done no more than what is expected of them.
The addition of five-time World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo, even at the age of 33, to a team that had already won the last seven Serie A titles, has effectively turned winning Serie A into an obligation.
Their real challenge is seen as winning the Champions League and, in that sense, their season starts in earnest on Wednesday when they visit Atletico Madrid for the first leg of their round of 16 tie. Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri, who saw his team beaten in both the 2015 and 2017 finals, has tried to play down expectations.
“It’s not the case that Ronaldo has come in and we’ll win for certain,” he said recently. “It takes respect too. We’re working to win, but there are the other teams who want to win as well.”
“It would be madness to say that we are runaway favourites to win the Champions League. We have an objective, to bring home the trophy — if we play well and are lucky.”
However, many believe the season will only be considered successful for Juventus if they lift the trophy at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid on June 1 — the same venue where they face Diego Simeone’s Atletico on Wednesday.
“When you keep winning in Italy, you know that you have to do something a little extra and that little extra is called the Champions League,” said Marco Matterrazzi in an interview with Eurosport.
“Juventus are always strong in the Champions League because they are obsessed with winning it,” added the 2006 World Cup winner who spent most of his career with Juve’s bitter rivals Inter Milan. in group stage
in round of 16
in semi-finals
in quarter-finals
in finals GELSENKIRCHEN,GERMANY:MANCHESTER City must win the Champions League to be considered one of Europe’s elite clubs, midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has said.
City have won the Premier League three times since the Abu Dhabi United Group bought them in 2008 but have never gone past the semi-final stage of Europe’s premier club competition.
“If you want to be in the international elite ... you need to clinch this trophy,” Gundogan told UEFA website ahead of Wednesday’s last 16 tie at Schalke.
“I think that, if we were to win it someday, the club would enter a new era, the same level as Real (Madrid), Barca, Bayern or Juventus, clubs that are maybe a step above us. Maybe not in the way they play football, but as a club at least.”
City were knocked out in the last 16 three times in the last five seasons while their only semi-final appearance came in 2016 when they were knocked out by Real Madrid 1-0 on aggregate.
“We’ve experienced a lot in the Champions League in recent years, not all of it positive, of course. We should’ve won it at least once,” Gundogan added.