Lionel Messi vs Alex Sandro
Lionel Messi has been the rescuer for Barcelona in this season and Luis Enrique needs to enforce him in this match. The Argentine playmaker wasn’t able to create the magic for which he is famous as Juventus left back Alex Sandro kept him under constant check and to some extent he literally owned him on the right side of the pitch.
Sandro is also known for his attacking threat but Max Allegri gave him the task to keep Messi out of the Barcelona attack and he passed the job with flying colours. He will once again be assigned to stop Messi but this time it will be a different ball game. Leo Messi will be coming to the match having scored a brace in this weekend and Sandro needs to keep the pressure on him to thwart him from creating any chances.
Giorgio Chiellini vs Luis Suarez
There were a lot of speculation after Barcelona met Juventus in the first leg following the famous biting incident of the World Cup. Everybody was expecting some firecracker rivalry between the two but nothing happened. They will once again go head to head against each other as Barcelona are preparing to emulate a famous comeback again. Suarez has been pretty wasteful in the last couple of weeks and he needs to be in top notch form to outclass his opponents.
Chiellini will have the task to mark the Uruguayan international. Juventus have taken the level of defending a bit higher and we have seen it in the last match. Suarez was pretty quiet in the last match and Chiellini has to make sure he doesn’t get a chance.
Paulo Dybala vs Samuel Umtiti
Barcelona cannot afford to let Dybala have a free role as the Argentine almost single handedly destroyed them in the first leg. Juventus outpaced the Catalans by creating a host of opportunities and Dybala utilised them with utter ease. The youngster recently signed a long-term contract and would be very keen to lift his first Champions League trophy at the Juventus.
The Catalans need to hold tightly in their defence and Samuel Umtiti has to take extra responsibilities. Juventus will try to make amends of their defensive lapses as the Barcelona defence often has been exploited by the opponents. If given a chance Dybala could blow up the Catalans defence with his skills and marauding runs.
