Villarreal hosts Italian giants Juventus in an intriguing UEFA Champions League Round of 16 series which kicks off at the Estadio de la Ceramica in Spain.
The Spanish outfit qualified as the second-place team in Group F, beating out Atalanta and Young Boys to qualify as runner-up to Manchester United. This will be Villarreal’s first knockout round participation since the 2008-09 season, while Juve is in the knockout rounds for the eighth straight season.
Juventus, somewhat surprisingly, topped its group ahead of reigning Champions League winner Chelsea, winning five out of its six group games.
Both teams are near the top of the standings in their respective leagues — Juventus sit fourth in Italy, while Villarreal are sixth in Spain — and come into this tie in fairly decent form. Juventus is undefeated in seven (winning four) and Villarreal has won three of its last four in La Liga.
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How to watch Villarreal vs Juventus in Canada
- Date: Tuesday, Feb. 22
- Time: 3 p.m. ET
- TV Channels: None
- Streaming: DAZN
Tuesday's first leg match between Villarreal and Juventus will be streamed exclusively in Canada by DAZN.
MORE: No more away goals in UEFA Champions League
Villarreal vs. Juventus predicted lineups
Unai Emery’s side have a few long-term injuries to contend with: Francis Coquelin has a long-term ACL injury that will most likely rule him out for most of the season. Ruben Pena’s shoulder injury has kept him out since mid-December, and won’t be in contention for this one.
Frontman and top scorer Gerard Moreno is unavailable due to an ongoing injury, but Yeremy Pino is back after serving his suspension, as is veteran Raul Albiol. Etienne Capoue and Giovani Lo Celso will also face late fitness tests ahead of this one.
Villarreal projected lineup: Rulli — Foyth, Albiol, Torres, Pedraza — Chukwueze, Parejo, Iborra, Moreno — Danjuma, Lo Celso.
Juventus heads to France with significant casualties on the treatment table. Italian talisman Federico Chiesa will be out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury. Defensively, Juve will have to contend without the experienced trio of Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Daniele Rugani.
Left back Luca Pellegrini and attacker Paulo Dybala are also likely to be absent for the tie, following the Argentinian’s injury suffered against Torino last week.
Juventus projected lineup: Szczesny — Cuadrado, Danilo, De Ligt, Sandro — Zakaria, Locatelli, Rabiot — Kean, Vlahovic, Morata.
Villarreal vs. Juventus betting odds and lines
Odds courtesy of Sports Interaction
Villarreal has registered three wins from of its last four games, drawing with Real Madrid in that span, too. The 2-0 win over high-flying Real Betis was a strong away performance followed up by last weekend’s 4-1 victory over Granada with Danjuma scoring a hat-trick.
Allegri’s Juventus side has stumbled of late with back-to-back league draws against Atalanta and Torino, which saw Dybala injured in the most recent outing.
January star signing Dusan Vlahovic has scored once in his four outings for Juventus since arriving, though his shot in an Italian Cup quarterfinal also led to a game-winning own goal. He will be making his Champions League debut against Villarreal.
Juventus is a squad that has experience in this competition and on paper is the better side at full strength. With the injuries listed, this game could be a chance for the Spanish side to secure an early advantage in this aggregate-goal series.
But if the Italian side can score the first goal, there's a good chance it can win based on history: Juventus has a 100 percent record from its last 13 Champions League matches in which one of their players has scored the opening goal.
Expect this one to be a tight affair (Under 2.5 goals is clearly a popular pick from the odds), with Juventus likely to be extra cautious due to its lack of first-choice center backs.
- Moneyline: Villarreal +165 / Draw +208 / Juventus +170
- Spread (Asian Handicap): Villarreal pick'em (-132) / Juventus pick'em (+104)
- O/U 2.5 total goals: Over +113 / Under -145
- Both Teams to Score: Yes -126 / No -123