After years of waiting, Juventus have finally fought their way back to the last four of the Champions League, with the Bianconeri making their first semi-final appearance since 2003. Awaiting them are the reigning European champions Real Madrid, seeking to become the first side to retain the trophy in its current format.

It is a rematch of that clash from 12 years ago, with Carlo Ancelotti’s presence on the bench for the Spanish giants providing a further link between the present and the past. He was of course the coach of the Milan side who would go on to defeat the Old Lady that same year, having also had a spell in charge of the Turin-based club a few years earlier.

The feeling of familiarity continues throughout the teams, with Cristiano Ronaldo having won this competition with Manchester United alongside current Juve stars Carlos Tevez and Patrice Evra. The meeting will also be particularly poignant for the two Spanish players in Max Allegri’s squad, strikers Alvaro Morata and Fernando Llorente.

While the former grew up in Real’s youth sector, the latter enjoys a fine strike rate against them, having struck in both group games between the sides back in 2013 and netting five times for Athletic Club during his time in La Liga.

“We’ll have to play a perfect match, because they don’t make mistakes,” Llorente warned in an interview with Sky last week (h/t Football Italia). “We can hurt Real, and I’m ready to give everything. We did well against them last year and should have won in Turin, but we compromised that victory with a mistake, but if we don’t commit errors we can do it.”

Date: Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Time: 8:45 p.m. CET (7:45 p.m. BST/2:45 p.m. EDT)

Venue: Juventus Stadium, Turin

TV Info: ITV (U.K.), Fox Soccer Channel (U.S.)

Live Stream: ITV Player (U.K.)

Form Lines

Last five domestic results:

Predicted Lineups

Juventus: (4-3-2-1): Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Vidal, Pirlo, Marchisio; Pereyra, Tevez; Morata

Real Madrid: (4-3-3): Casillas; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Kroos, Isco, Rodríguez; Benzema, Bale, Ronaldo

Player to Watch

While it would be easy to pick out the likes of Tevez or Ronaldo here, perhaps the key man in this tie will be Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo. Now fully recovered from injury, the Italian international is expected to take up his usual role in front of the defence, and his performance could well determine the outcome of this semi-final.

Much is made of Pirlo’s struggles when the opposition press and harass him, but in truth he has vastly improved this aspect of his game since moving to Turin. He showcased an ability to escape such attention in the last round, dragging AS Monaco players out of position constantly before popping up on the flank to play a wonderful pass to Morata.

That led to the penalty which ultimately decided the tie, and while Pirlo can occasionally be guilty of overplaying the ball near his own box, he is not the liability many have made him appear to be. If the 35-year-old can once again disrupt play and create chances for his team-mates, Juventus have every chance of springing a surprise here.

Key Battle

Real Madrid will score goals in this tie. Given the current strike rate it is impossible to imagine the Bianconeri being able to hold the Spanish giants scoreless over two legs, making it vital that they themselves find the back of the net.

Key to that will be Tevez, Serie A’s most in-form striker and the likeliest player to trouble the opposition defence in such a high profile clash. He has six goals thus far in the competition, a total bettered only by Ronaldo’s tally of eight among these two teams and must add to that if Juventus are to progress.

The task of stopping him will likely fall to Sergio Ramos, the defender will relish the challenge presented by Tevez.

Away win: 41/100

Home win: 42/25

Draw: 59/25