Juventus vs Borussia Dortmund: Who Has The Edge?
Defense
This area has been Juventus’ bread and butter for more than three years now, but eventually the Bianconeri will need to assert themselves into a more attacking threat in Europe. That would take some of the pressure off of the reliable Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci duo at the heart of the defense. Here are two defenders that bleed black and white in every way and two of the fan favorites. Bonucci is one of the most underrated passers in Europe believe it or not and he is just as much of a threat attacking on set pieces in the box. Chiellini is his reckless brother that constantly goes flying into plays, but he is effectively capable of getting under his opponents skin.
Dortmund’s defense isn’t the defense of old and maybe that’s because of the team’s recent struggles. Losing Gotze and Lewandowski to league rivals and clear favorites Bayern Munich is really a kick in the rear end for a club that could have been one of the deepest in the world. It’s a shame really and Klopp has made no secret of that. Hummels, Sokratis, Subotic, and Piszczek. Can’t pronounce Piszczek? Don’t worry neither can most sectors of the globe. Subotic, once highly touted has even fallen out of favor with Klopp and my guess is Sokratis will get the nod having played for both Genoa and Milan in Italy. That familiarity will be a bit of help for Klopp especially when traveling to northern Italy.
Advantage: Juventus. Consistency is key and that is especially something the Juventus defense has been in recent years. In fact when Juventus fail to make their run in Europe during recent seasons it isn’t the defense that gets the blame, but we will touch on that in just a moment.
Next: Midfield/Attack