Sevilla back in Turin for Juventus challenge
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Article summary
Sevilla return to the scene of their 2014 UEFA Europa League triumph, with Unai Emery promising to "follow the path we are on" as they take on Juventus.
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- Sevilla return to Turin, where they won the 2014 UEFA Europa League final
- Juventus on 13-game unbeaten home run in UEFA competition
- Bianconeri have won just two of seven matches this season
- Sevilla picked up only two points in first five Liga games this term
- Massimiliano Allegri says Stephan Liechtsteiner is out, Sami Khedira returns
Possible lineups
Juventus: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Cuadrado, Pereyra, Khedira, Pogba, Evra; Dybala, Morata.
Out: Mandžukić (thigh), Marchisio (thigh), Cáceres (disciplinary), Lichtsteiner (head)
Sevilla: Sergio Rico; Coke, Andreolli, Kolodziejczak, Trémoulinas; N'Zonzi, Krychowiak; Reyes, Iborra, Konoplyanka; Gameiro.
Out: Beto (knee), Pareja (knee), Carriço (hamstring), Kakuta (thigh), Banega (knee), Rami (hamstring), Escudero (knee), Llorente (muscular problems), Vitolo (muscular problems)
Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus coach:
I am sorry Lichtsteiner is not available but the doctors wanted to do further tests as a precaution. Tomorrow we'll play with Andrea Barzagli – maybe in a three or a four-man defence – but it doesn't change much. We've got to play with great determination. This is almost decisive for qualification from the group – it would build on our win in Manchester.
Sami Khedira's not played for a long time but he's playing tomorrow. He's often made a good debut, so let's hope he does it again. He's ready, he's a top international player.
Winning the Champions League is a dream. I think Juventus's aim has always got to be to reach the knockout stage. In the past you had only four teams you wanted to avoid at that stage; now there are eight. So the aim has got to be to reach the last eight. First we've got to win the group and that's not easy. The Champions League has got to be a dream.
At the moment we've got to focus only on what we've got to do on the field. If you spend your time thinking of what you could have done, you don't get anywhere. We're not yet able to finish games off within 60 minutes and then preserve energy for our next game. Take our game against Frosinone, for example, we should have finished that off earlier, but instead we conceded an equaliser in stoppage time.
Unai Emery, Sevilla coach
After a unique experience the last time we were here in Turin, for a huge game [the 2014 Europa League final], we're now back for the Champions League, the best club competition in the world. We want to enjoy it as much as we can. It's a top-level game which gives us a lot of motivation and we're going to give it our best.
Let's say the statistics and my own experience say that these bad moments of form happen, but Juventus showed against Manchester City that they are capable of winning. They have a fantastic team, full of great players and maybe their league season is not a fair reflection of what this team is. All I can say is that they really are a great team – in terms of individuals, history, their overall level is really high.
Football moves on and we've done a lot since our last game here. We will remember that night forever, but we've got a new challenge that we want to grasp and maintain for as long as we can, for the club and for our fans.
Football's full of ups and downs. People are expecting a great deal from us so we've got to do our best to deliver as much as we can. I have faith in the work we are doing. We share the same goals, we just need to continue along this path we are following together, as one. We never said we were aiming for first or second, or sixth or seventh, we said we want to do the best we can. Our fans want to see that we're giving it our best each time we are on the field and that's how we want to continue. We are Sevilla, we are proud and this is one of our values.
Weekend results
Napoli 2-1 Juventus (Insigne 26, Higuaín 62; Lemina 63)
Juve's four-match unbeaten run came to a halt as they succumbed to Napoli despite on-loan Mario Lemina's first goal for the Bianconeri.
Sevilla 3-2 Rayo Vallecano (Gameiro 23, N'Zonzi 45+1, Konoplyanka 86; Tiago 51, Guerra 68)
Sevilla ended their wait for a first Liga win of the season thanks to substitute Yevhen Konoplyanka's first Liga goal, not long after the visitors had lost Antonio Amaya to a second yellow card.
Form guide (all competitions, most recent first)
Juventus: LWDWDL
Sevilla: WLLWDL
Reporter's view: Paolo Menicucci (@UEFAcomPaoloM)
UEFA Champions League runners-ups in May, Juve have made their worst start to a Serie A campaign since 1955/56. Things are not going much better for Sevilla – 16th in the Spanish Liga – though both teams won on matchday one. However, both are now without their totemic strikers, Mario Mandžukić and Fernando Llorente. Whoever copes best will be in the driving seat in Group D.
Did you know?
Sevilla lost just one of their seven away games in last season's triumphant UEFA Europa League campaign; find out more in our extensive match background.