Porto (Portugal) (AFP)
Ronaldo, McKennie and Kulusevski are starting with Juventus Turin Wednesday night for the knockout stages of the Champions League against Porto, where Otavio is back from injury.
Entered during the lost match against Napoli in Serie A (1-0) last weekend, midfielder Weston McKennie is this time in the starting XI at the expense of Federico Bernardeschi.
Just like the striker Dejan Kulusevski who had played a few minutes against Napoli and this time was preferred to Alvaro Morata to accompany the inevitable Cristiano Ronaldo at the forefront of the Turin attack.
As expected, Juve coach Andrea Pirlo will rely on a central De Ligt-Chiellini hinge in the absence of injured Bonucci and brought the double pivot Bentancur-Rabiot back to midfield.
The Argentinian Paolo Dybala, in the recovery phase, takes place on the bench but should not play the meeting.
Bonucci and Dybala's packages are added to that of Colombian Juan Cuadrado, absent after a right thigh injury.
On the Porto side, coach Sergio Conceiçao reserved a surprise by starting midfielder Otavio, back from a left thigh injury that had sidelined him since the end of January.
He replaces Colombian international Luis Diaz.
The central defender and captain of FC Porto Pepe is there for his reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo.
The teams:
FC Porto: Marchesin - Manafa, Mbemba, Pepe (cap.), Zaidu - Corona, Sérgio Oliveira, Uribe, Otavio - Marega, Taremi.
Manager: Sérgio Conceiçao (POR)
Juventus Turin: Szczesny - Danilo, De Ligt, Chiellini (cap.) Alex Sandro - Chiesa, Bentancur, Rabiot, McKennie - Kulusevski, Ronaldo.
Coach: Andrea Pirlo (ITA)
Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (ESP)
© 2021 AFP