Juventus aim for home improvement

Juventus' proud home European record took a knock with a defeat and a draw in their last two fixtures and, having gone down 2-1 at Real Madrid CF last time out, they need a better result in the reverse fixture.

• The Italian champions started with two draws in Group B, 1-1 away to FC København and 2-2 at home to Galatasaray AŞ. Madrid – seeking a tenth European Cup – won their first two games – 6-1 at Galatasaray and 4-0 at home to København, Cristiano Ronaldo adding two goals to his matchday one hat-trick.

• The Portuguese forward scored twice more as Madrid overcame ten-man Juve on matchday three to open up a five-point lead in the standings and leave their opponents lagging in third place.

Previous meetings
• These two teams have between them lifted this trophy four times since the onset of the UEFA Champions League from a total of seven appearances in the final.

• They met in the 1998 final in Amsterdam when a 66th-minute Predrag Mijatović goal ended the Merengues' 32-year wait for their seventh European Cup title.

• The teams have faced each other 15 times – all in the European Cup – with home advantage proving key: Madrid's home record is W5 L2 while Juventus' is W5 L1.

• Before this season they last met in the 2008/09 group stage when the Italian team won home and away. Juve triumphed 2-1 in Turin, with Alessandro Del Piero and Amauri on target before Ruud van Nistelrooy got one back. Two weeks later Del Piero scored twice at the Santiago Bernabéu in a 2-0 victory.

• The lineups at the Stadio Olimpico on 21 October 2008 were:
Juventus: Manninger, Grygera, Legrottaglie (Mellberg 46), Chiellini, Molinaro, Marchionni, Sissoko, Marchisio (Salihamidžić 37), Nedvěd, Amauri (Iaquinta 78), Del Piero.
Madrid: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Cannavaro, Heinze, Van der Vaart (Drenthe 76), Gago, Sneijder, Raúl, Van Nistelrooy, Higuaín (Robben 54).

• It was one of five successive Juventus home victories against the Spanish giants – in the other game, the first between the teams, Madrid won a 1961/62 European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-final first leg 1-0. Juventus did the same in Madrid but then lost 3-1 in a Paris replay.

• Juventus have come out on top overall on the last three occasions the clubs have been paired together. The 1962 defeat was one of only two inflicted by Spanish visitors on Juventus – the other was a 1-0 reverse against RC Deportivo La Coruña in the 2003/04 round of 16 second leg which ensured a 2-0 aggregate defeat. Overall at home Juve's record is W12 D5 L2.

• The Italian club overturned a 2-1 first-leg defeat against Madrid in the 2002/03 semi-finals, winning 3-1 at home. In the final, the Bianconeri drew 0-0 with an AC Milan side coached by Carlo Ancelotti, who had an earlier spell in charge of Juve, after extra time. A 3-2 loss on penalties denied the Turin club a third European Cup.

• Madrid had made 14 visits to Italy before their first victory, beating AS Roma 2-1 in the 2001/02 first group stage. They have failed to win on their last six visits and their last success was also against Roma, 3-0 in the 2004/05 group stage. Their overall away record against Serie A sides is W4 D7 L17.
 
Match background
• Making their return to the competition last season after a three-year absence, Juventus reached the quarter-finals where they went down 2-0 home and away to FC Bayern München. The defeat ended Juve's run of six wins and five draws in 11 home European fixtures since Bayern won a matchday six encounter in December 2009.

• In the group stage the Bianconeri drew 1-1 with FC Shakhtar Donetsk in their first European game at the new Juventus Stadium. They followed up with home wins over FC Nordsjælland 4-0 and Chelsea FC 3-0 before a 2-0 second-leg success against Celtic FC completed a 5-0 aggregate win in the last 16.

• Liga runners-up in 2012/13, Madrid have scored in all their last 19 UEFA Champions League away fixtures, losing only four. Last season they were Group D runners-up behind Borussia Dortmund. They won away at AFC Ajax 4-1, drew 1-1 at Manchester City FC and lost 2-1 in Dortmund. They also triumphed 2-1 at Manchester United FC in the round of 16.

• They met Dortmund again in the semi-finals when a 4-1 reverse in Germany was Madrid's third loss in their six away fixtures. They won the home leg 2-0 but bowed out 4-3 on aggregate.

Team ties
• Ancelotti, twice a European Cup winner with AC Milan as a player before coaching victories in 2003 (against Juve) and 2007, coached Juventus between 1999 and 2001, with Antonio Conte captaining the side.

• Real Madrid assistant coach Zinédine Zidane played for Juve between 1996 and 2001 and was a team-mate of Conte.

• Xabi Alonso scored Liverpool FC's equalising third goal in the 3-3 draw against Ancelotti's Milan in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul. Andrea Pirlo missed from the spot as the English side won on penalties.

• Alonso and Pirlo were again midfield rivals two years later as Ancelotti's Milan defeated Liverpool 2-1 in the Athens final.

• Iker Casillas, Álvaro Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso and Fernando Llorente were in Spain's victorious 2010 FIFA World Cup squad.

• Casillas saved two spot kicks as Spain defeated Gianluigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini's Italy 4-2 on penalties in Vienna in the UEFA EURO 2008 quarter-final. The game was goalless after 120 minutes; Ramos also played while Alonso and Arbeloa were substitutes.

• Alonso scored a penalty against Buffon for Spain in a Bari friendly on 10 August 2011. Italy, who also fielded Leonardo Bonucci, Chiellini, Claudio Marchisio and Pirlo, won 2-1.

• The same Juventus quintet plus Andrea Barzagli were defeated 4-0 by a Spain team captained by Casillas and including Ramos, Alonso and Arbeloa, in the UEFA EURO 2012 final in Kyiv. Angelo Ogbonna and Sebastian Giovinco were unused Italy substitutes.

• Giovinco and Pirlo scored in the shoot-out along with Ramos as Spain defeated Italy 7-6 on penalties in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup semi-final in Fortaleza after a goalless 120 minutes. Bonucci missed the decisive penalty.

• Llorente scored five times – twice at the Santiago Bernabéu – against Madrid in his total of 85 goals for Athletic Club. He was on the winning side just once in 17 encounters with the Merengues, Athletic losing the other 16 games.

• Carlos Tévez and Ángel Di María are team-mates for Argentina.

• Paul Pogba and Raphaël Varane both made their France debuts on 22 March 2013 in a World Cup qualifier against Georgia at the Stade de France. Karim Benzema also played in that 3-1 victory.

• Martín Cáceres played in Spain for RC Recreativo de Huelva, FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC. He scored once against Madrid but lost all five encounters with the Merengues.