DBasia.news – Juventus are part of the Champions League group D with Atletico Madrid, Lokomotiv Moscow, and Bayer Leverkusen. According to Pavel Nedved, Vice President of Juve, this group is not easy.
Given that division, Atletico and Juventus are predicted to qualify from the group stage to rank one or two, while third place is contested by Leverkusen and Lokomotiv.
Atletico and Juventus met before in the last 16 of the Champions League last season. Juventus came out victorious thanks to a hat trick from Cristiano Ronaldo in the second leg. But the squad for the two teams has changed at the moment.
Juventus are recruiting many players and being coached by a new tactic gatherer replacing Massimiliano Allegri, Maurizio Sarri. While Atletico, despite being coached by Diego Simeone, has changed faces in the squad, whether it’s players who are leaving or coming.
Atletico is the toughest opponents of Juventus, but Nedved does not want Giorgio Chiellini et al to underestimate Leverkusen and Lokomotiv. Peter Bosz’s Leverkusen is inhabited by many talented young players, while Lokomotiv can be dangerous if playing in Russia.
“For me, this is a difficult group (group D), not at all easy, but this is the Champions League and there is no easy group. The first step is to get through the group phase. We changed a lot, I believe we improved, have a coach and new players. So I’m sure we are ready to play the season well,” said Nedved.
“We know Atletico Madrid, we have fought them in the preseason and it has always been difficult against Cholo Simeone (team’s). Leverkusen is very strong, especially when playing in Germany.”
“Lokomotiv Moscow has many foreign players and the journey there (Russia) is a long journey. Many problems we have to face, but we are confident,” concluded the legend of Juventus, quoted from Football-Italy.