Chelsea and Juventus have a meeting Wednesday evening in the UEFA Champions league. For Chelsea, it will be the beginning of their 2011-2012 title defense.
Chelsea is currently in first place in the Premier League standings. It is now time to translate this into international competition. The Blues go into Wednesday's match with fresher legs than their Italian opponents and they possess homefield advantage.
Chelsea was given some motivation recently as Ex-Liverpool captain Graeme Souness said prior to the scheduled match that "Roberto Di Matteo can't plan to repeat last season. Fair play to him for playing to Chelsea's strengths, but I have concerns for Chelsea in all competitions this season because their get-out-of-jail-card, Didier Drogba, is playing his football in China."
John Mikel Obi, midfielder for the Blues, would be the first to tell you they got lucky, but he believes they have what it takes to take the championship this year.
Di Matteo, Chelsea's coach, now has Fernando Torres filling in for Drogba. It will be a challenge, but Torres will have to find a way to score as he has big shoes to fill.
For Juventus, they will attempt to take full advantage of their first UEFA appearance since 2009. They go into London with a 42-game winning streak in Serie A.
Click here for the live stream of Chelsea vs. Juventus.
Here are the potential starting lineups for both squads.
CHELSEA:
1- GK Petr Cech
2- Branislav Ivanovic
24- Gary Cahill
26- John Terry
3- Ashley Cole
7- Ramires
12- John Mikel Obi
8- Frank Lampard
17- Eden Hazard
9- Fernando Torres
10- Juan Mata
JUVENTUS:
1- GK- Gianluigi Buffon
26- Stephan Lichsteiner
19- Leonardo Bonucci
15- Andrea Barzagli
3- Giorgio Chiellini
Krasic
23- Arturo Vidal
21- Andrea Pirlo
22- Kwadwo Asamoah
32- Alessando Matri
9- Mirko Vucinic
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