Villarreal vs Juventus

Juventus head to the Estadio de la Ceramica to take on reigning UEFA Europa League champions Villarreal in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie.

Villarreal’s first foray into the Champions League knock-out stages for 13 years pits them against Juventus for the very first time. However, ‘El Submarino Amarillo’ boast an impressive two-legged tie record against Italian sides, having won six in a row before bowing out to Roma in the 2016/17 Europa League last-32 tie. Additionally, the Spaniards have progressed from their Champions League last-16 ties in both previous attempts despite drawing the first leg 1-1 at home on each occasion. Interestingly, Villarreal’s Matchday 2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United brought their stunning 26-game unbeaten run against non-Spanish opponents in major European competitions (W16, D10). Yet, before beating Young Boys on Matchday 4, Unai Emery’s men were winless in seven consecutive home matches in the Champions League proper (D4, L3).

Meanwhile, Juventus head into proceedings on the back of successive 1-1 draws in Serie A, taking their unbeaten run in all competitions to 16 games (W10, D6 – 90 mins only). ‘I Bianconeri’ finished top of Champions League Group H, winning five of their six group fixtures, barring an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at Chelsea on Matchday 5. However, the record-time Italian champions have won seven of their last ten away matches in European football (L3). That’s encouraging, especially considering Juventus have won just 17% of their European visits to Spanish sides in official games (GP41 – W7, D7, L17). Despite Juve’s thoroughly disappointing record on Spanish soil, they have still successfully negotiated ten (59%) of their 17 two-legged ties against La Liga clubs (L7), including a memorable 3-2 aggregate success against Atletico Madrid in their 2018/19 Champions League last-16 tie last time out.