Juventus FC vice-president Pavel Nedved has labelled his club’s upcoming Champions League quarter-final clash against Barcelona as a “fascinating tie” after the two giants were drawn to play each other on Friday.
The first leg will be played on April 11 in Turin and the second leg at the Camp Nou on April 19. Barcelona beat Juventus in the Champions League final in Berlin in 2015.
“I don’t know if it’s revenge after the 2015 final, but it’s certainly a fascinating tie. They are one of the most famous teams in the world, but Juve have improved a lot and can take them on without fear,” said Pavel Nedved, Juventus vice-president.
“We must not look to the past, but at the present, knowing that we are strong and that we can face them with an open mind. Let the best team win,” Nedved told the club’s website. “Juve are growing by the day. This tie comes at just the right time and I agree with what ex-Juve boss Giovanni Trapattoni said in that Juve must ‘focus on themselves’. That is what we are going to have to do. We need to respect Barca, but without any fear because we are capable of challenging them.”
Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio also weighed in with his comments, “It will be completely different compared with the final in 2015. In Berlin, it was a 90-minute match; now we have two games against Barcelona and we don’t have to think of it as a matter of revenge at all.”
Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta said that his team has to back their capabilities if they are to beat Juventus. “It will be a passionate, difficult and beautiful tie. We will face a great team with many good players. We will have to play two great matches to get to the next round,” said Barcelona’s Iniesta.
“As well as having that solid [defensive] block typical of Italian teams, they have players who can make the difference, some of the best in every position who are at a very high level. It will be a difficult tie, but with our capabilities we aim to push it in our favour,” said Iniesta.
Barcelona vice-president Jordi Mestre said, “The draw is the draw, there are no easy teams in the quarterfinals but we always get tough ties,” he said. “There’s a good dynamic at the moment and morale is sky high but that doesn’t mean we’re going to go through. I respect Juve a lot. The advantage of playing the second leg at home is conditioned a lot by what happens in the first game - we hope it’s not the same as Paris. We have to score in Turin.”
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