Cristiano
Ronaldo vs Juventus’ back three (and Buffon)
Usually
these battles are player versus player. However, such is the unity of that
Juventus backline, they all had to be included. Not only that, Cristiano
Ronaldo is so good, it may take all of them to stop him.
The
Portuguese legend is re-inventing himself as more of an out-and-out striker. As
he gets older, Ronaldo is being forced to train less and is relying much more
on his appreciation of space and timing and has been nothing short of
exceptional since his rebirth as a central striker, scoring a hatful of goals,
not least a hat trick against city rivals Atletico Madrid in the first leg of
the Champions League semi final.
However,
he will be coming up against his sternest test yet, and if anyone can keep him
quiet, it is the Juventus wall. Remarkably, Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli
and Giorgio Chiellini have let three goals in 12 Champions League games slip
past them this campaign, but most impressively kept two clean sheets across two
legs versus Barcelona in the quarter-finals.
The midfield battle: Miralem Pjanic vs Toni Kroos
With
Juventus being such a solid outfit and Real Madrid with a wealth of attacking
talent, both sides may require creativity from deeper positions to break
through. Both sides’ central midfielders Toni Kroos (and Luka Modric for that
matter) and Miralem Pjanic are wonderfully gifted technically and can slice
through an opposition midfield with their passing.
Whichever
one can find the most space and control the tempo of their sides’ play, will
probably be on the winning side. Real Madrid may have the upper hand in this
department though as they also have Modric, arguably the best midfielder in the
world the past few seasons.
Moreover,
Zinedine Zidane’s slight tactical adjustments, using a 4-4-2 narrow diamond
formation rather than the typical 4-3-3, has put both Modric and Kroos back in
the middle of the pitch, supported by Casemiro. It allows them to get on the
ball more and exert their influence over the game.
Gonzalo Higuain vs Sergio Ramos
Gonzalo
Higuain is largely thought of as a flat track bully. A ruthless goal scorer in
the league, however when it comes to the big moments in big games, he usually
fluffs his lines. Juventus can not afford the same to happen against Madrid and
with Sergio Ramos at the heart of the defence, he will make sure his
ex-teammates life is as uncomfortable as possible.
Paulo
Dybala will arguably be Juventus’ most potent attacking threat, along with wing
back Dani Alves, however you feel Higuain will have at least one big moment in
the game. Will he take it is the question?
Will Higuain take his big chance? Can the Juventus defence keep
out Ronaldo?
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