The UEFA Europa League quarterfinals will begin on Thursday, with Juventus, a famous Italian football team, hosting Sporting from Portugal at the Allianz Stadium. Sporting advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Arsenal, while Juventus eliminated SC Freiburg to secure their spot in the last eight. The second leg will take place the following Thursday, and both teams are expected to approach the first leg cautiously. Juventus will be eager to take the lead in front of their home fans.
Juventus is currently in seventh place in the Serie A standings, having lost their last two games against Lazio and Inter Milan. They were moved to the Europa League after losing five of their six group games in the Champions League. However, they have comfortably won their previous Europa League matches against Nantes and Freiburg.
Sporting, on the other hand, made their Champions League debut this season, but only managed to finish third in Group D with seven points out of a possible 18. They upset Arsenal on penalties in the first round of the Europa League and then defeated Midtjylland 5-1 on aggregate in the play-offs. Sporting is currently on a good run, having extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games, with only three losses in their previous 26 games across all competitions.
Juventus and Sporting have only met once before, in the 2017-18 Champions League group stages. Juventus won the first match 2-1 in Italy and drew 1-1 in Portugal.
Both teams have some injury concerns, with Mattia De Sciglio and Kaio Jorge out for Juventus, and Jovane Cabral and Daniel Braganca out for Sporting, with Paulinho uncertain for the match.
Despite Sporting’s recent form, Juventus is expected to win at the Allianz Stadium.
