When the round of 16 draw was made, the Italian champions were more than pleased with the outcome. A two legged tie against Celtic, though a stern challenge, was not steepest hill Juventus could have been asked to climb for a place in the quarter finals of the Champions League. With Celtic’s home advantage in the first leg however, Parkhead’s monumental atmosphere will provide Conte’s La Vecchia Signora with a new, if not more challenging task. Defeating 11 men is difficult; defeating 60, 366 is much more difficult.
The Juventini, according to Antonio Conte, can expect their side to line up in their customary 3-5-2 formation. In goal the ever impressive Gianluigi Buffon is to be tasked with keeping the likes of Samara at bay, whilst also using his Champions League experience (over 100 appearances in UEFA club competitions) to calm the nerves within the Juventus ranks. Italy’s number one has been in great form of late and has conceded the least amount of goals in the Serie A this season once again. If Celtic are to get past the Juve defence, they will still have to get past the greatest goalkeeper of his generation.
Juve’s patent three-man defence will likely be used even without the presence of Giorgio Chiellini. In place of Chiellini, Martin Caceres will line up on the left side of defence. Although at times Caceres has looked shaky in this position (at the San Siro most notably), he has certainly grown in stature in recent weeks, and has become an adequate replacement for Chiellini. Back from a domestic suspension, Leonardo Bonucci looks set to play the libero role on Tuesday night. The Juventini will be hoping that due to the accentuation of the importance of Andrea Pirlo in midfield, Bonucci will be given time and space to step out of defence and spray passes into every corner of the field. On the right hand side of defence, the Serie A’s best defender of 2012, Andrea Barzagli, will be tasked with stifling Samara’s aerial threat. The World Cup winner is arguably the only defender in the Juventus ranks with an aerial ability which comes close to Samara’s, so expect to see Barzagli drop into the centre of the penalty area when the ball is out wide.
The MVP midfield is where La Vecchia Signora have the potential to win the tie. Andrea Pirlo, will be deployed in the regista role, where he will be given the freedom to provide a creative spark for his side. However, having carefully watched Juventus since the draw was made, Celtic manager Neil Lennon has undoubtedly came up with a formula in the shape of with Scott Brown or Victor Wanyama pushing up the field, to dispose of the threat of Pirlo. However, this is where the dynamic duo of Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal come to the fore. With such emphasis on the threat of Pirlo, these two exceptional all round midfielders could be the key to success for Juve. As good on the ball as in the tackle, Marchisio’s lung busting late runs into the penalty have become a trademark of this Bianconneri side; as is Vidal’s ferocity in the tackle. Expect Celtic’s aggression to be more than met by these two central midfielders.
Arguably the most integral part of Conte’s 3-5-2 is the marauding wing backs. Stephan Lichsteiner, will man the RWB position against Celtic. Since the turn of the year, the Swiss native has been Juventus’ protagonist; scoring two goals and providing his fair share of dangerous crosses. He is the perfect Conte player, matching grinta with technical ability and providing “the” out ball for Andrea Pirlo. The left flank, due to Kwadwo Asamoah’s African Cup of Nations exploits and Paolo De Ceglie’s weekend muscular strain, is noticeably much weaker than the right flank. There are two options for Antonio Conte: Federico Peluso or Mauricio Isla. Federico Peluso may be slightly favoured by the Juve coach as he was very impressive during the Fiorentina. No matter who Juventus opt to play at LWB, this position will have already been highlighted as a weak joint by Neil Lennon.
Up front it will likely be Mirko Vucinic plus one. Just as he did during the second half of last season, the Montenegrin has hit top form at just the right time. His performance at the weekend was vintage Vucinic, and the Juventini will be hoping for more of the same at Parkhead on Tuesday night. His striking partner could be either Sebastian Giovinco or Alessandro Matri; with Matri just above Giovinco currently in the pecking order. With two goals in two games, Conte will be looking to get all he can from Matri when he is on form… as it is a very rare occurrence.
If Juventus were given a draw away to Celtic they would undoubtedly take it, but they will certainly not sit back and rest on their laurels from kick off. Conte’s men will come out all guns blazing, and look to blitz Celtic in the first twenty minutes, a tactic which has worked nine times out of ten in big games. This is the biggest game of the season for La Vecchia Signora and the Serie A as a whole this season, another opportunity to prove their worth on the biggest stage, another opportunity to prove that whilst the economy in Italy is decrepit; the football certainly isn’t.