UCL: Old Ladies battle ready for Barcelona

Italian side, Juventus dumped Barcelona out of last season’s competition and the Old Ladies are confident of stifling the Catalans once again.
However, Barcelona can confirm top spot in Group D of the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League if they avoid defeat at Juventus today.
A win for Juve would put them into the last 16, but a loss could leave them in danger of missing out on qualification to the knockout rounds if Sporting CP beat Olympiakos in the group’s other clash.
When Barca and Juventus met at the Camp Nou in September, the Spanish outfit ran out 3-0 winners, a result the Italians will be eager to avoid again on tonight.
Centre-back Gerard Pique will be available again for Barcelona having missed the 0-0 draw with Olympiakos last time out in the Champions League due to suspension.
The Catalan giants have conceded just one goal so far in the competition this season, and the return of the Spain international will help Barca in their attempts to keep another clean sheet.
Juve have plenty of firepower to test Barca, though, and Gonzalo Higuain is in particularly fine form having netted six times in his last five appearances.
Paulo Dybala also ended his three-game drought by scoring in Juve’s 3-2 Serie A loss to Sampdoria on Sunday, but he is yet to score in 353 minutes of Champions League action this term.
The defeat to Samp was hardly ideal preparation for Juve, and they will be desperate to bounce back against Barca.
Ernesto Valverde’s side go into tonight’s clash on the back of a 3-0 La Liga defeat of Leganes, which saw Luis Suarez end his own five-match scoring drought with a double.