Champions League
2020-08-07 - Juventus vs Lyon
A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser
Football: UEFA Champions League
7th August 2020 – Kickoff time 21:00 [Allianz Stadium, Italy]
Introduction:
Serie A champions Juventus are looking to come back after they lost the first leg when they welcome Lyon to the Allianz Stadium in the last 16 of the Champions League second leg. It remains to be seen how fit and match fit will the visitors be as they had a long break after the French League came to an end following the coronavirus outbreak.
Juventus are fresh from winning their ninth straight scudetto so they have had plenty of match fitness and are sharp coming into the second leg.
Juventus
Juventus only ended up winning Serie A by a single point from Inter Milan, despite holding a big lead over the chasing pack before the season was halted due to the coronavirus. They failed to win the Coppa Italia as well after they were surprised by the Napoli in the final.
However, they cruised their way through the final weeks of the domestic season, and now need to come back from a one goal deficit against Lyon if they are to keep up their hopes of winning a first European trophy in 24 years. They come into this match having lost their last two matches in Serie A to the likes of Cagliari and AS Roma. However that was after they have taken their foot off the pedal having already won the Serie A title.
In their last three home matches, they lost to Roma 1-3, beat Sampdoria 2-0 and beat Lazio 2-1.
The player to watch here will be Cristiano Ronaldo. He returned to action after the break and throughout the season scored 35 goals for Juventus. In his last 11 games he has scored 10 goals.
Indeed, Maurizio Sarri was able to rest big names like Cristiano Ronaldo for Juve’s final game of the season against Roma which was meaningless, but indeed they paid the price with a heav home defeat to the capital side. That was their fourth defeat in their last eight games, with the Serie A champions winning only two of those eight. However the decision to rest those players in what was a hectic season could come in their favour now.
Most importantly, Sarri’s side have better quality and they should have the edge in terms of fitness here no doubt. But no doubt with Ronaldo in their side they have a player who will no doubt be eager to bring his side all the way to the Champions League final and win it this season.
Lyon
It is hard to imagine what kind of form Lyon are at the moment after their long break from football due to the coronavirus. They played a series of friendlies in July following the cancellation of the French season, with their final league game ending with a 1-0 defeat to Lille on 8 March.
They also lost at home by 1-5 to Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de France and they lost to the same side in the League Cup Final last Friday on penalties after their return to competitive action after it ended 0-0 in the full 90 minutes.
They failed to score in the full 90 minutes so it can be said that Lyon are hardly sharp or match-fit coming into this game. In their last three matches played at home, which has all been friendlies, they managed to beat the likes of Antwerp 3-2, Celtic 2-1 and Nice 2-1.
The player to watch for them here will be Moussa Dembele. He had scored 22 goals in 44 games across all competitions after their season came to an end abruptly. The Frenchman is yet to score in this season’s Champions League. but he will be keen to change all that here.
Past Meetings
When they met in the first leg back in February, Lucas Tousart scored the only goal just before half time as Lyon beat Juventus 1-0 which was a big shock then.
The Pick:
Go for Juventus and give the 1 1/4 ball Asian Handicap.
The Pick :
Juventus 2-0 Lyon
