Juventus Women will welcome Lyon Women to the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday for the first leg of their Women’s Champions League quarter-final.
The Italian champions are taking part in their first European quarter-final, while the seven-time champions are hoping to avoid another last-eight exit after losing to Paris Saint-Germain at this stage of the competition last season.
The Italian champions have enjoyed a promising European campaign up until this point after they progressed from a group that featured two-time European champions Wolfsburg and last season’s runners-up Chelsea.
Juventus finished in second place behind Tommy Stroot’s Wolfsburg, but after enduring a tough group stage, their task does not get any easier in the quarter-final.
Having suffered a minor blip in Serie A after losing to Empoli before drawing against Roma, Juventus have rediscovered their best form in the last couple of games.
Joe Montemurro’s side thumped AC Milan 6-1 in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final before goals from Lina Hurtig and Arianna Caruso proved enough to help the four-time Italian champions establish a five-point lead at the top of Serie A.
With their attention now turning towards European action, Juventus can draw inspiration from the fact that they have lost just one of their 10 Champions League games this season, with Montemurrro’s charges keeping seven clean sheets in that period.
Meanwhile, Lyon booked their place in the last eight after topping a group that featured Bayern Munich, Benfica and Hacken, with the French side winning five of their six group games.
Before they were eliminated by PSG in the quarter-finals last season, Lyon had dominated the competition, winning five consecutive Champions League trophies.
The seven-time winners have reached the final of Europe’s elite competition on nine occasions, and they will be hoping to turn that figure into double digits this term, but their current focus will be upon a tough tie against Juventus.
Sonia Bompastor’s side currently lead the D1 Arkema table, and a 3-0 victory away to Dijon at the weekend ensured that they will carry momentum into Wednesday’s contest.
Lyon are further boosted by the fact that they have won seven of their eight matches against opponents from Italy in the Champions League.
Juventus Women Women’s Champions League form:
WLDWDW
Juventus Women form (all competitions):
WWLDWW
Lyon Women Women’s Champions League form:
WWWLWW
Lyon Women form (all competitions):
LWWWDW
We say: Juventus Women 1-1 Lyon Women
Juventus lost 6-2 on aggregate to Lyon in the round of 32 of last season’s Champions League, but the Italian Champions have already demonstrated in the group phase that they can compete with the very best, and we think Lyon will have to be content with a draw in Turin.