Champions LeagueJuventusVillarreal

Villarreal and Juventus will resume their participation in the Champions League on Tuesday. The first match will be in Spain, and the rematch in Italy is only on March 16. This will be the first official match of this rivalry, and the last time they competed in a friendly match in 2009. Then the Spaniards won 4: 1, but this hardly matters.

Villarreal is in the round of 16 in the tournament of the rich for the first time since the 2008/09 season. This became possible after second place in Group F. There were three victories, the key of which was 3: 2 over Atalanta in Bergamo in the last round of the group stage. Both defeats were suffered by Manchester United.

Juventus did great in their Group N. The first position was won in the company of Chelsea, Zenit and Malmö. Five victories were achieved, and in four of them the Bianconeri did not concede a goal. The only loss of points was in London, but in a heavy defeat with 0: 4, in which Chelsea did not leave any chances to their opponent.

Both teams are in good shape, with Villarreal winning three of their last four matches and not only beating Real Madrid. Over the weekend, the Yellow Submarine beat Granada 4-1 and finished sixth in the standings. Juventus allowed an unexpected shootout in the city derby in Turin. Despite this failure, the series of unbeaten matches for them has been going on since November 27.

Juventus is the favorite to advance to the next phase of the tournament, but not to win today in Spain. I expect serious resistance from the hosts, as the upcoming home is their big chance on the way to the quarterfinals. Contrary to the expectations for a boring match, I expect an equal one that will offer a sufficient number of positions with which the two teams can exchange at least one goal.