'Juve know how to defend' - Club legend Zoff fires warning to Messi, Suarez and Neymar

Joe Wright

'Juve know how to defend' - Club legend Zoff fires warning to Messi, Suarez and Neymar image

Juventus great Dino Zoff has backed the Serie A champions to contain Barcelona's fearsome 'MSN' forward line.

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were all on the scoresheet as Luis Enrique's side produced a miraculous comeback to defeat Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 at Camp Nou last week and book their place in the Champions League quarter-finals.

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They will meet Juve in the last eight in a repeat of the final of 2015, in which Barca triumphed 3-1 to clinch the treble in Luis Enrique's first season in charge.

But while Zoff acknowledges the strength of Barca's attacking trio, he believes a repeat of their goalscoring heroics against PSG would be impossible against Massimiliano Allegri's side.

"That could never happen with Juventus," the former Italy goalkeeper, who won six league titles with Juve, told Catalunya Radio.

"The Bianconeri have character and great players. It simply wouldn't be possible for them to do that.

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"All the Juve players are dangerous. Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain are fantastic, but the real strength of the side lies in the defence.

"Messi, Neymar and Suarez are a trio who can create a lot of problems, but we're Juve, and we know how to defend."

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.