Juventus star’s warning for Barcelona

JUVENTUS forward Paulo Dybala warned Champions League quarterfinal opponents BARCELONA that his side are in their best spell of the season.

The Italian champions head into tonight’s first leg at Juventus Stadium boasting a six-point lead at the top of Serie A and having last week reached the final of the Coppa Italia after beating Napoli 5-4 on aggregate.

Juve were defeated 3-2 in the second leg in Naples last Wednesday but otherwise have not tasted defeat in any competition in the last three months, and Dybala believes they are in a great place heading into the final weeks of the season.

He also insists they are in better form than Barcelona, whose bid to retain their LaLiga title suffered a setback on Saturday as they lost 2-0 at Malaga.

Juve will be without winger Marko Pjaca as he will miss the rest of the season after suffering knee ligament damage while on Croatia duty.

Barca, meanwhile, are missing midfield lynchpin Sergio Busquets through suspension, while Arda Turan, Aleix Vidal and Rafinha are all injured.

BORUSSIA DORTMUND coach Thomas Tuchel believes his side are slight underdogs for their Champions League quarter-final with MONACO. The Germans welcome the Ligue leaders to the Westfalenstadion 1 tonight before travelling to the principality for the return leg next Wednesday.

Dortmund sit fourth in the Bundesliga table after suffering a 4-1 defeat at rivals Bayern Munich on Saturday.

Dortmund could welcome back a number of first-team regulars against Monaco.

Julian Weigl and Shinji Kagawa are expected to be available, along with right-back Lukasz Piszczek, while creative midfielder Marco Reus may also be fit.

Monaco’s chances have not been helped by the loss of defender Djibril Sidibe, who is in hospital being treated for appendicitis

Midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko is suspended.