Barcelona vs Juventus: Preview and Prediction
Barcelona will be looking to make it four wins from their opening four pre-season matches this summer when they take on Italian giants Juventus on Wednesday.
The Catalan giants will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid on Sunday while Juventus opened their preparations for the new season with a 2-0 success over Guadalajara.
A disappointing run of six defeats in eight trips suggests that Juventus are not the best of travellers, with a total of 16 goals being conceded across these losses. That must be music to the ears of a Barcelona outfit that has been cooking with some serious gas recently, as the title-chasers have netted 20 times on the way to securing 18 points from a possible 21.
Juventus have been delivering plenty of entertainment recently, with each of their previous five games at the top table of the Club Friendly producing a minimum of three goals. This has also been the case in six of the seven matches played by Barcelona at this level during the current campaign, so it would come as a surprise to see two goals or fewer when the sides lock horns.
What have they done so far?
Barcelona started their preparations for the new season with a 1-1 draw against Olot on July 13 before heading out to North America for their pre-season tour, and Xavi’s side opened their schedule with an impressive 6-0 victory over Phil Neville’s Inter Miami side on July 19.
The Catalan giants then had the small matter of a Clasico with Real Madrid in Las Vegas on Saturday evening, with Raphinha’s first-half strike proving to be the difference between the two sides.
Robert Lewandowski led the Barcelona attack, with the Poland international playing the opening 45 minutes following his arrival from Bayern Munich, while there was also a spot for fellow new signing Andreas Christensen at the heart of the defense.
Franck Kessie has impressed in his two outings for Barcelona in America
Franck Kessie was also involved, with the Ivorian making a strong impression in the early stages of his time at the club, and Barcelona will now face Juventus and New York Red Bulls in their final two friendlies on tour before taking on Pumas UNAM in the Joan Gamper Trophy on August 7.
Xavi’s side will begin their 2022-23 La Liga campaign at home to Rayo Vallecano on July 13, meanwhile, and they will be looking to improve on what was a largely disappointing 2021-22 season, having finished second in Spain’s top flight, 13 points behind the champions Real Madrid.
Juventus, meanwhile, started their preparations for the new campaign with a 2-0 victory over Mexican outfit Guadalajara on Friday night. Marco Da Graca and Mattia Compagnon scored the goals for the Old Lady, who are building towards their 2022-23 Serie A opener against Sassuolo on August 15.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side will face Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in their final three friendlies of the summer, and like their opponents here, the team will be looking to improve on last season, having finished fourth in Serie A, a massive 16 points behind the champions AC Milan.
Juventus have brought in Bremer, Federico Chiesa, Andrea Cambiaso, Paul Pogba and Angel Di Maria this summer, while Matthijs de Ligt has been their major outgoing, with the Netherlands international making the move to Bayern Munich in a £60m deal.
The Old Lady are still attempting to improve their squad for the new season, where they are looking to return to the top of Italian football once again, in addition to being competitive in the Champions League.
Head to Head Record
Both these sides have played each other in 10 encounters with seven of those being official encounters while the other three coming in friendlies. Overall, Barca has a slight advantage over their Italian counterparts winning five of those games while losing three and drawing two. In official encounters, Barca has won three games whilst the Bianconeri have won two and both the sides have drawn two. Meanwhile, in friendlies, Barca has won two of three games whilst the Old Lady has won just a solitary fixture.
Team News
Barcelona boss Xavi is unlikely to make many changes from the side that started against Real Madrid in El Clasico, as a number of the players only played 45 or 62 minutes. Kessie could come back into the midfield, though, with the Ivorian potentially replacing Gavi, while Sergino Dest might be given a start at right-back, with Ronald Araujo moving inside.
Ousmane Dembele and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will both be pushing for starts, but Raphinha, Lewandowski and Ansu Fati could continue as the front three. Meanwhile, there is unlikely to be a starting role for Frenkie de Jong, as the Netherlands international continues to be linked with a move to Manchester United.
Max Allegri is expected to make changes to the side that started against Guadalajara
As for Juventus, head coach Allegri is expected to make changes to the side that started against Guadalajara, with summer arrivals Pogba and Bremer likely to come into the XI. Leonardo Bonucci and Dusan Vlahovic were unused substitutes in the team’s first friendly of the summer, but the pair are expected to be in the side against Barcelona.
Denis Zakaria could also come into the midfield, but there are not likely to be alterations in the full-back areas, with Juan Cuadrado and Alex Sandro set to continue in the side.
Predicted Starting XIs
Barcelona (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Sergino Dest, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Jordi Alba; Franck Kessie, Sergio Busquets, Pedri; Ansu Fati, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha
Juventus (4-3-3): Wojciech Szczęsn; Juan Cuadrado, Gleison Bremer, Leonardo Bonucci, Alex Sandro; Manuel Locatelli, Paul Pogba, Denis Zakaria; Angel Di Maria, Dusan Vlahovic, Moise Kean
Prediction
Both managers will again make wholesale changes throughout this contest, so it is difficult to know exactly what to expect on Wednesday, but Barcelona have been in strong form during pre-season, and we are tipping the Catalan outfit to record a 3-1 win in Texas.
