forces will meet its immovable object in the second
of the semi-finals on Wednesday.
Serie A champions Juventus will take their
formidable defensive record to France to face the
scintillating attack of Ligue 1 leaders Monaco.
Massimiliano Allegri's side shut out Barcelona in
the last eight and are the favourites to reach a
second final in three seasons, but their free-scoring
opponents are playing almost without pressure
after surpassing expectations by reaching this
stage.
Kylian Mbappe and Paulo Dybala have cemented
their reputations as two of the finest young
attackers in world football this season and will
surely prove pivotal to their respective sides when
it comes to settling a tantalising tie.
But where else might the two legs be won and
lost? With the help of Opta, we look ahead to this
week's first leg...
- This is the second time these sides have met in a
Champions League semi-final. Juventus secured
their passage to the final with a 6-4 aggregate
victory 19 years ago before losing to Real Madrid
in the final (1997-98).
- Juventus, alongside Real Madrid, are the only
unbeaten team in this season's Champions League
(W7 D3) and haven't conceded a goal for 531
minutes, the current longest run in the competition.
- Monaco have won 71 per cent of their home
games in the Champions League (22 out of 31).
Among clubs to have hosted at least 30 games,
only Real Madrid (76.5 per cent), Barcelona (72.1
per cent) & Bayern Munich (71.3 per cent) have a
better win ratio.
- Monaco have scored exactly three goals in each
of their four Champions League knockout games
this season. In fact, they are the first team in the
competition's history to find the net at least three
times in four consecutive knockout games.
- None of the two goals conceded by Juventus in
this season’s Champions League have come from
open play (10 games).
- Monaco have conceded 16 goals in the
Champions League this season; more than any
other team among the remaining semi-finalists.
- Kylian Mbappe, 18, is the joint-top scorer in this
season's Champions League knockout stages
alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, with five goals in four
games. He is also the first player in Champions
League history to score in each of his first four
knockout games.
- Meanwhile, 21-year-old Thomas Lemar is the
top assist provider in this season's knockout
stages, with four. He's the first player to assist a
goal in four consecutive knockout games since
Andres Iniesta in May 2011.
- Gonzalo Higuain has scored only two goals in 24
Champions League knockout games. In the group
stages, he's netted 13 goals in 38 games. Paulo
Dybala, meanwhile, has scored four goals in five
Champions League knockout games.
- Radamel Falcao has scored 39 goals in the
Europa League and Champions League since his
debut in September 2009 against Chelsea; only
Robert Lewandowski (41), Lionel Messi (77) and
Cristiano Ronaldo (85) have more European goals
(excluding qualifiers) in that time.
0 Comments