How Do Juventus and Porto Match Up for Their Champions League Clash?

The draw for the knockout phase of the Champions League has been made and Juventus will face Portuguese side Porto.

It could have been tougher on them, but it certainly won’t be easy as Porto have really impressed in the group stage, finishing second behind Manchester City and losing just one game.

We do have a wait for the knockout phase to begin as teams around Europe are now given time to really focus on their domestic leagues, rather than playing in Europe for most weeks. With this in mind, qualification form can pretty much be thrown out of the window, a closer look will be needed at domestic form.

So, how do these teams stack up against each other, and who will come out on top when they meet across February and March of 2021?

What Do the Bookmakers Think?

Many people instantly head to football betting when they register with a bookmaker and in the big events such as the Champions League, plenty of bets are staked.

The bookmakers have Juventus as the favourites to qualify from this tie, and they are long odds on to do so. The first game will be played in Porto, which represents the best chance of an upset that the Portuguese side have and even there, Juventus are odds on to win in 90 minutes.

When we look at the outright betting for the tournament, Juventus are fourth favourites behind the likes of Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Liverpool, big names in Europe.

That is in contrast to Porto, who are complete outsiders of the teams remaining in the last 16 and clearly not fancied to progress past this round by the bookmakers.

The Champions League Story So Far

Rounding the group stage off with an emphatic win over Barcelona, Juventus would probably have preferred to keep going in the Champions League and keep their momentum up.

They ended the group stage with five wins and one defeat overall, that defeat was the home game to Barcelona back in October, but they certainly gained compensation for that by winning in the Nou Camp.

Ultimately, Juventus proved to be far too strong for Dynamo Kyiv and Ferencvarosi, the other two opponents in the group.

Porto lost just one game in the group stage against Manchester City, they drew their other game against City and won the other four.

When you consider the quality that Manchester City have, this was a good run for the Portuguese side, they were far too strong for Olympiakos and Marseille.

Have Porto shown themselves to be better than Juventus? No, certainly not, but they have shown themselves to be a team that can trouble them if not at their best.

Key Players

When the Champions League draw put Juventus and Porto together, it gave Cristiano Ronaldo the chance to go back to his home country and compete there again.

There is no doubt that Ronaldo will be the key player in these two games. He will be fired up for them, just like he was when he went to Barcelona and scored twice in the final game of the group stage.

If there is a threat on the Porto side then their best player in the Champions League so far has been Sergio Oliveira, who has played five games in the competition and scored three goals for his team.

As a midfielder he can join the play late and deceive teams, he will need picking up by someone to nullify his threat, and if Juventus do that, it will go a long way towards them winning the tie.