Juventus vs Galatasaray: Match preview, predicted line-ups, team news and prediction

With a mountain to climb in their quest to reach the Champions League last 16, Juventus play host to Galatasaray at the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday.

Both teams suffered defeats in their most recent domestic assignments, as the home side fell 2-0 to Como, while the visitors were beaten 2-0 by Konyaspor.

Match preview

With only two defeats from the first 20 matches, life under Luciano Spalletti began on a positive note for Juventus, but things have since taken a downward spiral.

Saturday’s defeat to Como was Juve’s fourth in five matches – a run that has seen them exit the Coppa Italia and fall a whopping 18 points adrift in the Serie A title race.

La Vecchia Signora will now attempt to become the first Italian team since Roma eight years ago to overturn a three-goal first-leg deficit in the Champions League after a 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Galatasaray.

That stretched the hosts’ winless run in this fixture to four matches, something that seemed inconceivable after they won the first-ever meeting in September 2003.

Having trailed 2-1 at half time, Galatasaray were staring down the barrel of a first home loss since November in last week’s play-off opener against Juventus before four unanswered second-half goals secured an emphatic win for the Turkish giants.

However, Okan Buruk’s men were sent crashing back down to earth against Konyaspor following a 2-0 defeat, which snapped their five-game winning run across all competitions.

While Saturday’s defeat has opened the door for The Lions to be leapfrogged by city rivals Fernbahce at the top of the Super Lig standings, their immediate focus will be on making it through to the UCL last 16.

Losing three of their four Champions League away outings this season, during which they have conceded eight goals, Galatasaray will be keen to avoid another shambolic European display on the road despite having given themselves a healthy cushion heading into Wednesday’s affair.