Atalanta scored two! - Falcao not afraid of Juventus' dominant defence

Joe Wright

Atalanta scored two! - Falcao not afraid of Juventus' dominant defence image

Radamel Falcao says Monaco need only look to Atalanta for inspiration ahead of their Champions League semi-final date with Juventus.

The Ligue 1 leaders host Massimiliano Allegri's side in the first leg on Wednesday before travelling to Turin on May 9.

Juve are on course for a treble this season and have built their impressive form on a redoubtable defence that has yet to concede a goal from open play in the Champions League in 2016-17.

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Indeed, the Serie A leaders had managed five clean sheets in a row in all competitions until their 2-2 league draw with Atalanta on Friday.

Radamel Falcao, AS Monaco

But Falcao, whose Monaco side have scored three goals in each of their four knockout games this term, believes Gian Piero Gasperini's men have shown that Juve's backline is not invincible.

"Scoring against Juve is not easy because they are a really well-balanced team," he told La Stampa.

"They have great players of a really high level, but above all they are good at defending as a team. 

"But although it's true that Barcelona couldn't get a goal against them, Atalanta got two. In football, anything is possible..."

Falcao, who has five goals in six games in Europe this term, is looking forward to the prospect of facing Juve veteran Gianluigi Buffon for the first time.

"Buffon is a great goalkeeper," said the Colombia striker. "We all admire him. And I've never faced him: scoring a goal would be a big boost."

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.