Juventus will be looking to bounce back from their Champions League disappointment when they travel to Bologna in Serie A on Sunday afternoon.
The league appears to be taking care of itself for Juve this season, but they suffered a 2-0 defeat away to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League clash on Wednesday night.
Bologna
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Three wins, nine draws and 12 defeats - that is how Bologna have performed in Serie A this season. A total of 18 points has left them in 18th position in the table entering Week 25 in Italy's top flight.
Since returning to Serie A for the 2015-16 campaign, Bologna have finished 14th, 15th and 15th, but are facing the real possibility of dropping back into the second tier for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
Bologna incredibly recorded a 1-0 win away to Inter Milan earlier this month, but that was their first three points since the end of September. The Red and Blues ran Roma close on Monday before losing 2-1, though, and are certainly a team capable of picking up surprise results.
A clash with Juve is not quite what Bologna would have had in mind, however, as they look to escape the bottom three. Chievo have been cut adrift at the bottom of the table, but Bologna are only three points behind 17th-placed Empoli and their situation is far from terminal at this stage.
Each of the last five Serie A meetings between these two teams have ended in Juve wins, but Bologna did pick up a point at home to the Old Lady in February 2016. That said, not since February 2011 have I Rossoblu managed to overcome Juve in a league fixture.
Sinisa Mihajlovic's side have the third-worst home record in Serie A this season, meanwhile, and have only actually scored eight times in front of their own supporters in the league.
It is a huge ask to expect Bologna to overcome Juve this weekend, but the Italian champions will not have had too much time to prepare for this match following their visit to Madrid on Wednesday night.
Recent form: LDLWDL
Juventus
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Juve have won 21 of their 24 Serie A matches this season - remaining unbeaten in the process - to top the table on 66 points. The Old Lady are 13 points clear of second-placed Napoli and look almost certain to land yet another league title, but the mood in the camp will not be terrific entering this match.
Indeed, it would be fair to say that the Champions League is the trophy that Juve really want this season, but they face a huge task to make the quarter-finals following a 2-0 defeat at Atletico in the first leg of their last-16 tie at the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday night.
Goals from Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin secured an advantage for Atletico, meaning that Juve have a huge mountain to climb as they look to score at least twice - without conceding - against one of the meanest defences in European football.
Before the home game with Atletico on March 12, Juve have three Serie A matches. The first of those is against Bologna on Sunday, before travelling to Napoli on March 3. Thirteen points is a big gap, but a defeat for Juve this weekend would make that trip to Naples extremely important.
Massimiliano Allegri's side will then host Udinese on March 8 ahead of the home game with Diego Simeone's side, which could well define the club's season.
There will be no Coppa Italia for Juve this season following their shock 3-0 loss to Atalanta BC at the end of last month and just the Serie A title would not be regarded as a good campaign for a club of their ilk.
Juve deserve incredible respect for their league form this season, though, having scored 52 times and conceded just 15 in their 24 matches, which as mentioned above, has brought 21 victories.
Recent form: WWWDWW
Recent form (all competitions): WLDWWL
Team News
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Bologna will again be without the services of Mattia Destro, who is still struggling with a hamstring injury.
Head coach Mihaljovic has no fresh injury concerns from the defeat at Roma last time out, though, and there is every chance that he could name the same starting XI.
Nicola Sansone was on the scoresheet in the loss to Roma and is expected to be joined in the final third by Federico Santander, but Blerim Dzemaili will be pushing for a spot.
As for Juve, Sami Khedira will again miss out as the midfielder recovers from a heart problem, while Juan Cuadrado and Douglas Costa are still on the sidelines and Emre Can is suspended.
Federico Bernardeschi and Joao Cancelo came off the bench against Atletico and will be hoping to start, while Allegri has a decision to make at the back.
Indeed, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini returned from injuries in the Champions League tie and one or both could be rested for this game, with Daniele Rugani on standby to return.
Cristiano Ronaldo, though, is not expected to be handed a rest this weekend.
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Dijks, Helander, Danilo, M'baye; Soriano, Pulgar, Poli; Edera, Santander, Sansone
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Cancelo, Rugani, Chiellini, Sandro; Matuidi, Pjanic, Bentancur; Bernardeschi, Ronaldo, Dybala
Head To Head
Juve recorded a 2-0 win in the reverse Serie A match in Turin earlier this season.
The Italian champions beat Bologna 3-0 on their last visit to the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, meanwhile, and have won each of the last five Serie A matches between the two sides.
The pair also met in the Coppa Italia this season, with Juve running out 2-0 winners last month. Bologna's last league victory over Juve was a 2-0 success in Turin in 2011.
We say: Bologna 0-2 Juventus
Juve will be fired up to return to winning ways following the disappointment of the Atletico result, and we expect the Italian champions to put three points on the board courtesy of a routine success.
Matt Law
