Turin (Italy) (AFP) – Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini and Bosnia midfielder Miralem Pjanic returned to Juventus’s Champions League starting line-up for Tuesday’s quarter-final first-leg clash with Barcelona in Turin.
Chiellini, who was famously bitten by Barcelona striker Luis Suarez at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, missed Juve’s last Champions League outing at home to Porto last month due to injury.
But the experienced centre-back returns to Massimiliano Allegri’s back four to partner Leonardo Bonucci, with former Barca defender Dani Alves at right-back and Alex Sandro wide on the left.
In midfield Allegri welcomes the return of free-kick specialist Pjanic, who pushes Claudio Marchisio onto the bench to partner Germany’s Sami Khedira.
In attack, Paulo Dybala will start behind his Argentina colleague Gonzalo Higuain, who has hit four goals in two games over the last week.
Barcelona, playing their first match in Europe since a stunning 6-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain that took them through to the last eight — and their first since a 2-0 league reverse at Malaga on Saturday — are notably missing influential midfielder Sergio Busquets due to suspension.
Javier Mascherano starts in the midfield holding role alongside Ivan Rakitic and captain Andres Iniesta.
Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar lead Barca’s attack as the Spanish champions, who beat Juve 3-1 in the 2015 final, look to inflict a rare home defeat on the Italian champions.
Juventus are unbeaten at home in Europe since losing the second leg of the 2013 quarter-final 2-0 to eventual winners Bayern Munich.
Teams for the Champions League quarter-final first leg between Juventus and Barcelona at Juventus Stadium on Tuesday (kick-off 1845 GMT):
Juventus (4-2-3-1)
Gianluigi Buffon (capt); Dani Alves, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Miralem Pjanic, Sami Khedira; Juan Cuadrado, Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic; Gonzalo Higuain
Coach: Massimiliano Allegri (ITA)
Barcelona (4-3-3)
Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, Jeremy Mathieu; Ivan Rakitic, Javier Mascherano, Andres Iniesta (capt); Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar
Coach: Luis Enrique (ESP)
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (POL)
