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Projected Juventus lineup for Champions League clash with Valencia

By John Vaccaro

TURIN, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 16: Juventus player Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates 2-0 goal during the serie A match between Juventus and US Sassuolo at Allianz Stadium on September 16, 2018 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 16: Juventus player Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates 2-0 goal during the serie A match between Juventus and US Sassuolo at Allianz Stadium on September 16, 2018 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images) /
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TURIN, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 16: Juventus player Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates 2-0 goal during the serie A match between Juventus and US Sassuolo at Allianz Stadium on September 16, 2018 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 16: Juventus player Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates 2-0 goal during the serie A match between Juventus and US Sassuolo at Allianz Stadium on September 16, 2018 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images) /

LW: Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo finally got his first (and second) goal out of the way on Sunday, but that doesn’t mean anything now for Juve fans. It was an important hurdle to get out of the way coming into the Champions League, but this is where he needs to perform to make his high transfer fee and salary worth it for Juventus. Ronaldo has been ridiculously successful in the Champions League.

Juve has struggled to take that last step and win the Champions League. It’s clear that all Juventus cares about this season is winning the Champions League. If Ronaldo leads Juventus to their first title in 23 years then he will go down as a Juventus legend. He has meshed more and more with the squad with every match. Juve will be expecting a big performance from Ronaldo here.

ST: Mario Mandzukic

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Mandzukic will once again bring his relentless energy to a Juventus Champions League match. He is tied with Ronaldo for Juve’s scoring lead this season and will also contribute to the Juve defensive effort against Valencia. Him and Ronaldo seem to have quickly built a rapport early in this season. For now Mandzukic is the only player suited to this role and he should start all 6 group stage matches. His role may change after the winter transfer window, but right now he is a reliable piece to this Juve squad.

RW: Federico Bernardeschi

This one was tough to call. Until the 93rd minute of the match against Sassuolo I would’ve picked Douglas Costa for this spot. However his spitting incident likely means Juve will leave him out of the lineup against Valencia. That leaves Juventus with the very convenient option of starting Bernardeschi instead. Bernardeschi has played very well for Juve this season and even took over the starting spot from Costa for matchdays 2 and 3. He has very little Champions League experience so this will be a good chance for Juve to get him some. Bernardeschi will be looking to continue his strong start on Wednesday and keep his starting spot even when Costa returns from his suspension.

GK: Wojciech Szczesny

Szczesny gets this one by default. I’ve been waiting to see Mattia Perin get a start for Juve’s first 4 matches. Unfortunately, Juve has yet to give him a shot so Szczesny is the only keeper in form for Juve right now. He has played well this season, but at some point this season this will be Perin’s job.

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However, another strong Szczesny performance will keep him in the starting lineup and Juve will be able to keep winning with him.

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