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Juventus projected lineup vs Manchester United: Ronaldo returns to Old Trafford

By John Vaccaro

Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus FC) celebrates after scoring during the Serie A football match between Juventus FC and Genoa CFC at Allianz Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Turin, Italy.Final results: 1-1. (Photo by Massimiliano Ferraro/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus FC) celebrates after scoring during the Serie A football match between Juventus FC and Genoa CFC at Allianz Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Turin, Italy.Final results: 1-1. (Photo by Massimiliano Ferraro/NurPhoto via Getty Images) /
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TURIN, ITALY – AUGUST 25: Mario Mandzukic of Juventus celebrates 2-0 with Sami Khedira of Juventus, Joao Cancelo of Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus during the Italian Serie A match between Juventus v Lazio at the Allianz Stadium on August 25, 2018 in Turin Italy (Photo by Laurens Lindhout/Soccrates/Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY – AUGUST 25: Mario Mandzukic of Juventus celebrates 2-0 with Sami Khedira of Juventus, Joao Cancelo of Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus during the Italian Serie A match between Juventus v Lazio at the Allianz Stadium on August 25, 2018 in Turin Italy (Photo by Laurens Lindhout/Soccrates/Getty Images) /

It was a rough weekend for Juventus, but they get a chance to redeem themselves in a Champions League match against Manchester United on Tuesday.

The second half of Juve’s match against Genoa was simply embarrassing. They came out of the locker room looking like they had gone into cruise control and paid the price. Even worse, their “captain” gave up on the play that led to Genoa’s equalizer in the match. The complacency that has plagued them whenever they’ve had a lead this season finally cost them their perfect record. Luckily for them, things haven’t gone much better for United this season.

Manchester United currently sits in 10th on the Premier League table after a tumultuous start to the season that has had Jose Mourinho’s job security constantly in question. Their poor form culminated in a four match stretch where they went winless, were eliminated from the Carabao Cup, and drew at home against Valencia. That result makes this match against Juventus a must-win for United if they are going to advance out of this group. Losing this match could just be the final straw that gets Mourinho fired.

A Juventus win would all but ensure that they finish first in this group. They would be sitting on at least a 5 point lead with home matches left against United and Valencia. To try to build that lead Juve will most likely use the 4-3-3 formation that they have regularly used this season. Sami Khedira’s injury and the potential that Emre Can could need thyroid surgery will make it difficult for Juve to continue to use this formation regularly, but in this match it will give them the best chance to leave Manchester with 3 points.

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