Juventus vs Villarreal Champions League round of 16 preview: Where to watch, predicted line-ups, squad changes
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Article summary
When is it? How can you watch it? What are the possible line-ups? All you need to know about the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg between Juventus and Villarreal.
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Juventus and Villarreal meet in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg on Wednesday 16 March.
Juventus vs Villarreal at a glance
When: Wednesday 16 March (21:00 CET kick-off)
Where: Juventus Stadium, Turin
What: UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg
How it stands: Level at 1-1 after the first leg
How to follow: Build-up and live coverage will appear here
Where to watch Juventus vs Villarreal on TV
Fans can find their local UEFA Champions League broadcast partner(s) here.
What happened in the first leg?
Dušan Vlahović took just 33 seconds to announce himself on the UEFA Champions League stage, opening the scoring on his competition debut. The hosts dusted themselves down, though, and nearly drew level on 13 minutes but Giovani Lo Celso struck a post. The equaliser came midway through the second half, when Daniel Parejo met Étienne Capoue's perfectly weighted ball and swept in.
Starting line-ups
Juventus: Szczesny; Danilo, Rugani, De Ligt, De Sciglio; Cuadrado, Locatelli, Arthur, Rabiot; Morata, Vlahović
Villarreal: Rulli; Aurier, Albiol, Pau Torres, Estupiñán; Capoue, Parejo; Pino, Lo Celso, Trigueros; Danjuma
Away goals rule abolished
There has been a rule change for 2021/22: ties level after the second leg will go to extra time and a penalty shoot-out if required, irrespective of the number of away goals a team has scored.
Form guide
Juventus
Since first leg (all competitions, most recent first): WWWW
Where they stand: 4th in Serie A, Coppa Italia semi-finals
Villarreal
Since first leg: WLW
Where they stand: 7th in Spanish Liga
Expert predictions
Paolo Menicucci, Juventus reporter
Juventus have a different face compared to the first half of the season, especially after the arrival of Vlahović. The Bianconeri are not playing spectacular football yet, but certainly results have changed drastically. They are conceding less and less in defence and the Serbian striker does not need many chances to provide goals, with 1-0 victories – 'wins by a nose' to use Allegri's words – almost becoming a mantra. More of the same against Villarreal?
Joseph Walker, Villarreal reporter
A battling first-leg display means all is to play for in Turin, with Villarreal taking confidence from how little they restricted Juventus to in their meeting in Spain. The elephant in the room for Unai Emery's side remains scoring goals and putting away their chances. However, should they be able to repeat the heroics of their last visit to Italy – a 3-2 win at Atalanta – then they will be into the last eight.
What the coaches say
Unai Emery, Villarreal coach: "We have a lot of hunger after a very good group stage. We were able to turn the situation around at home, especially after conceding the goal in the first minute. Juventus are one of the contenders to win the Champions League, but we intend to go through and get our recognition."
Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus coach: "We must have the ambition to go all the way. Tomorrow is like a final on home soil, so there must be a positive atmosphere. It will be a difficult match, and we'll certainly need to defend well."
When is the Champions League quarter-final draw?
The 2021/22 UEFA Champions League quarter-final, semi-final and final draws take place on Friday 18 March. The draw will begin at midday CET at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland. The live stream will appear here.
The draws are open, so there is no seeding or country protection. Any team can be drawn against any other team.
The 2022 Champions League final takes place at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday 28 May.
