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5 key matchups for Champions League clash between Juventus and Manchester United

By John Vaccaro

FROSINONE, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 23: Juventus player Federico Bernardeschi celebrates 0-2 goal with Cristiano Ronaldo during the serie A match between Frosinone Calcio and Juventus at Stadio Benito Stirpe on September 23, 2018 in Frosinone, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images)
FROSINONE, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 23: Juventus player Federico Bernardeschi celebrates 0-2 goal with Cristiano Ronaldo during the serie A match between Frosinone Calcio and Juventus at Stadio Benito Stirpe on September 23, 2018 in Frosinone, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images) /
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Manchester United vs Chelsea
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 20: Ashley Young, Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba, and Romelu Lukaku of Manchester United celebrate after the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on October 20, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Tom Purslow/Man Utd via Getty Images) /

Two of European football’s biggest names will face-off against their former teams when Manchester United welcomes Juventus to Old Trafford on Tuesday.

This Champions League clash pits two of the most storied teams in football history against each other for the first of two group stage matches against each other. It is surprisingly only the 13th time these teams have met with them splitting the first 12 as evenly as possible. Each team has won 5 matches and they’ve drawn twice. They’ve also each scored 15 goals in these matches.

While their head-to-head split is even, these teams have been heading in opposite directions lately. Manchester United has struggled to reach their former heights since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure and it hasn’t been worse than this season. They currently sit in 10th place in the Premier League, 7 points away from a Champions League place, and have had a few extremely disappointing results this season.

Early in the season they lost to 12th place Brighton, last month they were eliminated from the Carabao Cup by Derby County, and they followed that up with an embarrassing 3-1 loss to 14th place West Ham. United will be hoping to finally get back to their best against Juventus.

While United has struggled Juventus has thrived. They’ve won 7 consecutive Scudetti and appeared in 2 of the last 4 Champions League finals. This season they have had the most impressive start to a season yet, setting a team record with 10 consecutive wins to start the year. They put in a disappointing performance on Saturday, drawing with Genoa, but they still remain in first in Serie A by 4 points. They’ll look to bounce back against United.

There is plenty of talent facing off in this matchup between two European giants. How those talents matchup against each other will determine, which of these teams sees themselves get back on track.

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