Attention to the Miranchuk, the mood of Ronaldo and Carrera in the stands: what makes the Juventus - Lokomotiv match interesting in the Champions League

“It is more important to beat Lokomotiv than to win the Golden Ball”

The draw of the Champions League group stage for Lokomotiv could hardly be called successful. The railway workers got two European top clubs, Juventus and Atlético, and the ambitious German Bayer as rivals in the quartet. However, in the first match, the railroad beat Leverkusenians on the road and showed that they intend to spoil the blood of the favorites.

True, in the match with Atletico in Cherkizovo, Yuri Syomin's wards were defeated, but the position of the Russian team before paired meetings with Juventus does not seem hopeless at all. Another thing is that in order to maintain the chances of reaching the Champions League playoffs, Lokomotiv needs to score points.

A serious injury epidemic can prevent the team from doing this. Anton Miranchuk, Rifat Zhemaletdinov, Fedor Smolov, Luka Dzhorzhevich and Maciej Rybus will not help the railway workers in Turin. The participation in the game of Dmitry Barinov is in doubt. Moreover, the last match of the RPL with Akhmat was missed by both the main defensive midfielders of the red-green, Barinov and Grzegorz Krychowiak. The Pole, according to the coaching staff, did not get into the application due to problems with the intestines, but in Italy will be able to enter the field.

Krykhovyak’s participation in the match is especially important for Loko, because in the current season Grzegorz is the real leader of the team, who not only does a huge amount of work, but also regularly scores. The same can be said of Barinov. It is possible that the company in the supporting zone will again be Murilo.

World champion Benedict Hövedes is also expected to take part in the match. This game will be special for him, because he spent the 2017/18 season on loan in Turin, but did not get too much playing time. Now he has to restrain Cristiano Ronaldo himself, who last week exchanged his eighth hundred goals in his career. And in the upcoming meeting, the football player may become the author of a new achievement - to score the 34th team in the Champions League. However, he himself confessed before the match that he did not think about personal achievements.

“Right now, the Golden Ball is not my main goal. It’s more important to beat Lokomotiv. After all, if we win, we will be 50% closer to reaching the Champions League playoffs, ”Ronaldo La Gazzetta dello Sport quotes.

Well, Semin urged the wards not to go in cycles only on the figure of Cristiano.

Juventus made, as always, a very strong impression in the last match of Serie A. Juventus is not just Ronaldo. Each footballer of Turintsev is a great master and a real star. It’s wrong to focus only on Cristiano, ”said the coach.

In turn, the Portuguese will have the opportunity to meet with teammate João Mariou. The midfielder, like Hovedes, will probably try to remind the Italian fans of himself, because his career at Inter has not been openly given to him. But in Loko, he came to the court and managed to replace the injured Anton Miranchuk on the left flank.

But his brother Alexey will be able to enter the field and, finally, will play in the current season of the Champions League. By the way, the largest Italian sports publication La Gazzetta dello Sport before the game devoted to the Miranchuk whole material called Juve, take a closer look at the Miranchuk brothers: these are their crazy stories. "

In it, in particular, it is described how the brothers were expelled from Spartak in childhood, that the Miranchuk was once asked a question in the Russian version of the famous television game Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Of course, the material says a lot about the strong football qualities of Alexei and Anton. So Lokomotiv is clearly not worth waiting for underestimation in Turin. Maurizio Sarri warned his wards against this.

“We need to be afraid of Lokomotiv, this team does not have big stars, but it plays very well. This applies to both the national championship and the Champions League. Railway workers can create problems for us. In the match with Bayer, it was clear how they knew how to attack and score. They intercept the ball, pressure the goalkeeper, act aggressively. This club should be treated with great respect. It will be difficult, ”Italian journalist Gianluca di Marzio quotes Sarri.

Carrera’s meeting with Semin and unsuccessful statistics for Loko

However, despite the individual skills of individual performers, Lokomotiv in Italy will be a clear underdog, and even a draw will be an excellent result for railway workers. Juventus, under the leadership of the new coach, Sarri is on the move and at the start of the season did not suffer a single defeat, and at home he won all five matches. Only Turin lost in Madrid over Atlético can be added to the passive of Turin. In the capital of Spain, “Juve” led - 2: 0, but allowed the opponent to equalize.

Nothing good shines for Lokomotiv and statistics. The Russian teams, in principle, do not play very well with the Italian in European competitions. In 60 matches, they won only 11 victories and suffered 33 defeats. In the Champions League, the figures are even more sad - 26 matches and only 3 wins.

And the railroad workers had a chance to meet with Juventus. True, this happened in the first round of the distant UEFA Cup-1993/94. Then the “Old Signora” with the former head coach of “Spartak” Massimo Carrera as part of confidently beat the Russian team in the sum of two meetings - 4: 0. In Turin, the red-green led by Semin were completely defeated - 0: 3. By the way, Carrera is going to attend a match with Lokomotiv and does not bode well for the former team.

“I don’t think the match will be an easy walk for Juventus.” “Lokomotiv” started with a guest victory, perhaps it is more dangerous away from home because it adapts to the opponent, ”TuttoJuve quoted the expert as saying.

Returning to the history of Juventus rivalry with Russian teams, later Rostov came to Italy as part of the Intertoto Cup and did not manage to compete with the grand. Moreover, that game was held in Cesena, and not Turin.

“Zenith” looked much more worthy of “Olimpico di Torino”. Petersburgers in 2008, as part of their debut group stage of the Champions League, were close to taking away points from black and white, but 15 minutes before the final whistle they conceded a single goal from Alessandro Del Piero. But in St. Petersburg, “Zenith” broke up with “Juve” the world, and this was the only time when the Russian team did not lose the “Old Signore” in European competition.