When Juventus won their second of only two Champions League titles in 1996, Juventus was not yet the youngest player of Juventus' current squad.
Therefore, the team’s upcoming match tomorrow, Wednesday, in front of its host Porto, will be the spark that Juventus aspires to start its serious journey to regain the European throne and crown the title for the third time in its history.
Spotlight 🎥, camera and the Champions League!
⭐ Round of 16: You either continue or graduate. # Forza_yovy #FCPJuve #JuveUCL #UCL pic.twitter.com/qnJG6xKOi8
- JuventusFC (@Juventusfcar) February 16, 2021
Juventus fans dream that tomorrow's match will be a new starting point on this path, and that the team will finally get rid of the bad luck it encountered in more than one past version, which gave the team a negative record in losing the final matches of the tournament.
Juventus will visit Porto tomorrow in the first leg of the 16th round of the tournament, as this confrontation brings together two teams, each of whom won the title twice.
The beginning of the preparation for the # Porto_offi ⭐️💪 match
🔴🖥 Watch the training session on @JuventusTV: https://t.co/9ZylzqgYum pic.twitter.com/D0NfclLjWs
- JuventusFC (@Juventusfcar) February 16, 2021
Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo returns to his country, Portugal, tomorrow, to lead the attack of the old lady in this difficult confrontation.
Ronaldo, 36, has won the European title 5 times during the past 12 editions.
CR7 Slow-mo ⏯🎯🔥 # NapoliJuve #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/BtoVd0o6L8
- JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) February 13, 2021
Juventus is currently relying heavily on Ronaldo's experience in these elimination roles, as the player scored 67 goals in 81 playoff matches over the course of his football career so far.
Ronaldo won the title with Real Madrid in 2017 at the expense of Juventus himself when he defeated the Old Lady's team 4-1.
This was the seventh final that Juventus lost in the tournament, after losing 1-3 to Barcelona in the 2015 final and falling on penalties to Milan in 2003.
Andrea Pirlo, the current Juventus coach, was the captain of Milan's midfield in the 2003 edition, winning his first two European titles at the time.
A year ago, on this day, your last appearance was to celebrate with us.
We hope to see you near us again 🤍🖤 # Forza_yove # FinoAllaFinepic.twitter.com/M78Cp6L69N
- JuventusFC (@Juventusfcar) February 16, 2021
Pirlo moved to Juventus in 2011 to help the team win the first 4 of the nine league titles the team has won over the past nine consecutive seasons.
Pirlo ended his football career at the American club New York City, and returned to Turin last July with the aim of training the youth team of Juventus, but the club blew the surprise and assigned Pirlo to lead the first team after the dismissal of coach Maurizio Sarri.
Sari won the Italian league last season, despite the confusion caused by the outbreak of the new Corona virus.
But it appears that the exit against Lyon of France in the round of 16 of the Champions League last season cost Sarri the job.
Under Pirlo's leadership in the current season, Juventus led their group in the first round of the Champions League, as the team ended its career in the group stage with a 3-0 win over Barcelona in a match that saw Ronaldo score twice.
Pirlo also led the team to win the Italian Super Cup by winning 2-0 against Napoli, and Juventus qualified for the Coppa Italia final this season after defeating Inter Milan 2-1 in the aggregate of the semi-finals.
🦾 ⚽
36 years old and Cristiano Ronaldo still does not stop scoring 😮 # Cristiano_Ronaldo # Juventus_Roma #Ronaldo pic.twitter.com/oWiNLyJg3S
- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) February 6, 2021
But most observers of the team believe that it is still in the stage of developing its level, especially since the difference that separates it from the Italian league leaders Inter Milan has become 8 points and Juventus has a postponed match.
The team’s defeat by Napoli 1-0 on Saturday showed Juventus’s lack of stability at the level.
Ronaldo, who scored one goal in his last 5 games in the Italian league, sought to quickly overcome this defeat and called on the team to focus on the Porto match.
"We have to keep our heads up and think about the Champions League," Ronaldo wrote on Instagram.
Alvaro Morata, Ronaldo's partner in attacking the team, who scored 6 goals in the Champions League this season, was also keen to motivate and encourage the team, saying, "There is no point in our faces. We all have to work hard for the next match .. We have to be more focused to give our maximum." ".
Morata has not scored a goal in his last 6 Serie A matches, but Pirlo now expects a lot from him.
The balance of the other strikers of the team, Federico Chiesa, Diane Koloshevsky and Paulo Dybala combined, reached 14 goals, two goals less than Ronaldo, who is the top scorer in the Italian League, equally with Belgian Romelu Lukaku, Inter striker.
Tomorrow's match will see Dybala return after recovering from injury, as will his colleague Aaron Ramsey, while speedy player Juan Cuadrado and Brazilian playmaker Arthur will be absent.
Tomorrow the match will witness a special confrontation between Portuguese international Pepe, Porto defender, and his compatriot Ronaldo, his former Real Madrid teammate.
Together, the two players won the Champions League title with Real 3 previous times, and together they won the European Nations Cup (Euro 2016) with the Portuguese national team.