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Juventus and København both eye a forward push

Just one point separates the three Group B teams lying behind leaders Real Madrid CF and both Juventus and FC København will be looking to improve their qualifying prospects.

Daniel Braaten tussles with Stephan Lichtsteiner on matchday one
Daniel Braaten tussles with Stephan Lichtsteiner on matchday one ©AFP/Getty Images

It could hardly be tighter in UEFA Champions League Group B with a single point separating the three teams lagging behind leaders Real Madrid CF, and both Juventus and FC København will be looking to strengthen their qualifying prospects when they meet in Turin.

• The matchday one fixture ended 1-1 with goalkeeper Johan Wiland outstanding for København, restricting the visitors to Fabio Quagliarella's 54th-minute equaliser after Nicolai Jørgensen's opener on 14 minutes.

• The Italian champions followed that with another draw, 2-2 at home to Galatasaray AŞ, before the double header with Madrid. Reduced to ten men, they lost 2-1 in the Spanish capital before a 2-2 draw at the Juventus Stadium.

• København, in only their third group stage campaign, lost 4-0 in Madrid on matchday two and were still without a win when they went down 3-1 in Istanbul. They got off the mark in the return against Galatasaray, Daniel Braaten firing the only goal.

Previous meetings
• Juve met Danish opposition in last season's competition, winning 4-0 at home to FC Nordsjælland with Claudio Marchisio, Arturo Vidal, Sebastian Giovinco and Quagliarella all on target. They had previously drawn 1-1 in Copenhagen, Mirko Vučinić scoring.

• Before those encounters Juve had faced only one Danish team, beating Hvidovre IF 7-4 on aggregate in the 1982/83 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round. After a 4-1 away win, the Turin return ended 3-3, Hvidovre scoring twice in the final seven minutes to snatch a draw. Michel Platini was on target in both games.

• København have lost on both their previous visits to Italy, conceding five goals and scoring only one. Their only victory in five attempts, home and away, came in the Danish capital against SS Lazio, winning the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round first leg 2-1. They went down 4-1 in the return.

Match background
• Making their return to the competition last season after a three-year absence, Juventus reached the quarter-finals where they went down 2-0 home and away to FC Bayern München. The defeat ended Juve's run of six wins and five draws in 11 home European fixtures since Bayern won a matchday six encounter in December 2009; before last season's loss to Bayern they had won three successive home games after drawing 1-1 with FC Shakhtar Donetsk in their first European game at the new Juventus Stadium.

• In their eighth successive European group stage campaign, København – exempt from the qualifying rounds for the first time – were last in the UEFA Champions League proper in 2010/11 when they finished second in their group behind FC Barcelona.

• On their travels three years ago København won 2-0 at Panathinaikos FC, losing by the same score at Barcelona and 1-0 at FC Rubin Kazan. In the round of 16 they lost 2-0 at home to Chelsea FC, drawing 0-0 in the London return.

• In last season's UEFA Europa League group stage, the Danish champions lost 1-0 away at FC Steaua Bucureşti, drew 0-0 at VfB Stuttgart and won 2-1 at Molde FK.

Team ties
• Olof Mellberg played for Juventus in 2008/09, scoring two goals in 27 Serie A games. He was a team-mate of Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Sebastian Giovinco, Marchisio and Paolo De Ceglie.

• Mellberg played against Buffon and Andrea Pirlo as Sweden and Italy drew 1-1 in Porto in a group fixture at UEFA EURO 2004 on 18 June.

• Chiellini scored the only goal as Italy defeated Mellberg's Sweden in a friendly international on 18 November 2009.

• Kris Stadsgaard played for Reggina Calcio in 2007/08 while Daniel Jansen was at Novara Calcio in 2011/12.

• Nicolai Jørgensen and Arturo Vidal played together at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 2010/11.

• Andrea Barzagli, Chiellini, Marchisio and Pirlo played against Lars Jacobsen as Italy defeated Denmark 3-1 in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Milan on 16 October 2012.

• Lars Jacobsen was in the Danish side who drew 2-2 with an Italy team containing Buffon, Chiellini and Marchisio in a World Cup qualifier in October on 11 October.

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