Serie A champions Juventus undertake the long journey to Ukraine, as they meet Dynamo Kiev in their opening Champions League Group G game on Tuesday.
The Bianconeri are, of course, without Cristiano Ronaldo for now and failed to overcome lowly Crotone at the weekend without their talisman. Dynamo, meanwhile, won again to top the Ukrainian Premier League by two points.
Match preview
© Reuters
Juve manager Andrea Pirlo's first Champions League game in charge sees him come head-to-head with veteran coach Mircea Lucescu – the very man who launched his stellar playing career, some 25 years ago.
Pirlo made his Serie A debut aged 16 for Lucescu's Brescia in 1995. The Romanian coach worked extensively in Italy, having spells at Pisa, Reggiana and Inter Milan, where he also briefly managed his opposite number.
Like the rapidly-promoted Pirlo, Lucescu is also settling into a surprising new role. The 75-year-old former Shakhtar Donetsk coach - who won eight league titles, six cups and the 2008-09 UEFA Cup in 12 years there - controversially returned to Ukraine this summer to take charge of their bitterest rivals Dynamo.
This will be their first group appearance in four years, having finished as domestic runners-up behind Shakhtar for the fourth season running in 2019-20. Their passage was sealed by a home win against AZ Alkmaar in their one-off third qualifying round tie, then victory over Gent in the playoffs.
As a substitute, Dynamo's Viktor Tsyhankov scored the winner for Ukraine in their shock 1-0 defeat of Spain in the Nations League last week - and their only goal in a 7-1 away friendly loss to France. Goalkeeper Georgiy Bushchan was impressive, too, in repelling a flurry of Spanish shots.
Both Tsyhankov and livewire winger Carlos de Pena will offer a significant threat to a Juventus defence undergoing a tricky transition after years of rock-solid performances.
© Reuters
This will be Juve's 21st Champions League campaign; they have reached the last 16 in all but three of those seasons and will expect to do so again this time.
Although the absent Cristiano Ronaldo is virtually peerless in this competition, his interim deputies are capable of causing headaches for any defence.
On Saturday, recent signing Federico Chiesa made an immediate impact on his debut, running on to Dejan Kulusevski's through ball to tee up an Alvaro Morata tap-in. All three will aim to get their continental campaign off the mark with a goal in the Ukrainian capital.
La Vecchia Signora's sole defeat in Ukraine came at Shakhtar, in the 1976-77 UEFA Cup third round and - while far from their peak form as yet - the odds are against Tuesday's opponents ending that record.
Dynamo Kiev form (all competitions): WWWWDW
Juventus form (all competitions): WDWD
Team News
© Reuters
Home coach Lucescu could select a flexible 4-3-3 to face their illustrious visitors, with Vladyslav Supriaha leading the line, flanked by Tsyhankov or Gerson Rodrigues and De Pena.
Serhiy Sydorchuk and Mykola Shaparenko are set to start in midfield, while left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko and Ilya Zabarnyi will feature in the back four ahead of Bushchan.
Without Cristiano Ronaldo and Weston McKennie (both in quarantine), Pirlo could again rely on Chiesa and Morata in attack, with Kulusevski in support.
Speculation persists about the future of Paulo Dybala, as the much-coveted Argentinian forward was left on the bench against Crotone, despite recovering from gastroenteritis last week.
Arthur and Rodrigo Bentancur should start in midfield, with Juan Cuadrado - dropped at the weekend - on the wing.
Wojciech Szczesny is likely to resume in goal, with Gianluigi Buffon rested. Danilo, Leonardo Bonucci and the returning Giorgio Chiellini should make up the back three.
Dynamo Kiev possible starting lineup:
Bushchan; Kedziora, Zabarnyi, Mykolenko, Karavaev; Buyalskyi, Sydorchuk, Shaparenko; Tsyhankov, de Pena, Supriaha
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Danilo, Bonucci, Chiellini; Bernardeschi, Bentancur, Arthur, Cuadrado; Kulusevski; Morata, Chiesa
We say: Dynamo Kiev 1-2 Juventus
Dynamo have flown out of the traps domestically - with four wins, two draws and a +11 goal difference - but have yet to face a side of Juventus' class.
Though Juve have underwhelmed so far, their younger stars such as Chiesa and Kulusevski will relish the opportunity to prove themselves on the Champions League stage.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Away:curl
Jonathan O'Shea
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Juventus win with a probability of 53.32%. A draw had a probability of 25.1% and a win for Dynamo Kiev had a probability of 21.61%.
The most likely scoreline for a Juventus win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.94%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.32%) and 1-2 (9.46%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.85%), while for a Dynamo Kiev win it was 1-0 (7.43%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 10.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Juventus would win this match.
