Juventus have not named a number of key players in their Champions League squad to face Tottenham Hotspur at the Allianz Stadium on Tuesday in Turin.
Paulo Dybala, Juan Cuadrado, Blaise Matuidi, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Andrea Barzagli are absent from the two-time competition winners’ squad.
Spurs face a few troubles of their own also, with Toby Alderweirled and Harry Winks both missing the trip to Turin.
Juventus’ squad
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Key players out
Dybala, Cuadrado, Matuidi, Lichtsteiner and Barzagli deal the Old Lady a huge blow ahead of the visit of Tottenham in the Champions League.
These absentees leave Juve light in squad options, particularly in defence with no Lichtsteiner and Barzagli.
Dybala is no doubt a massive blow for Juventus, but such is the quality of their squad the other four are players not usually in the starting eleven.
Tottenham’s Toby troubles
Alderweirled was a notable absentee from Tottenham’s North London derby squad that beat Arsenal 1-0 on Saturday.
Having completed 90 minutes against Newport during the week, it seemed likely he would return against the Gunners.
The 29-year-old has been dealt yet another setback, being left at Hotspur Way to work on fitness, having met with manager Mauricio Pochettino and his assistant Jesus Perez after Liverpool.
Juventus vs Tottenham preview
For Juve, it has been a spell of utter dominance, winning all 11 of their last fixtures in Serie A, including a 2-0 victory at Fiorentina last time out.
Despite so many impressive displays, the Old Lady still find themselves sat second, behind leaders Napoli, in what has been quite an enthralling race for the title in Italy this season.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side reached this stage of the competition after finishing runners-up to Barcelona in Group D.
For Tottenham Hotspur, this game concludes what has been a tough run of fixtures; but also a period in which they have really flourished.
Taking seven points from their last three league games, coming up against Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, they travel to Italy at just the right moment in time.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side made it to the last-16 of the competition having taken a joint-English record tally of 16 points to top a group containing both Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.
Read 101 Great Goals’ full preview line-ups & football betting tips for Juventus vs Tottenham here.