Bayern Munich v Juventus preview: Italians confident after first-leg comeback

Bayern Munich will look to sustain their return to form as they host Juventus in their Champions League last-16 second-leg tie on Wednesday.

The sides played out a 2-2 draw in Turin last month, with goals Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben cancelled out by second-half strikes from Paulo Dybala and Stefano Sturaro.

Despite beating Wolfsburg 2-0 in their next outing, Bayern's 17-match winning run at the Allianz arena was ended by defeat to Mainz, but Guardiola's side made an ominous return to form on Saturday with a 5-0 win over Werder Bremen.

As the only team to have scored against Juventus in the last two months, Bayern have claimed the advantage with two away goals, but Guardiola admits he is wary of the Serie A champions' threats.

"We are playing against one of the best teams in Europe," said Guardiola. "They have not conceded a goal in their last 10 league games so expect a very complicated and uncomfortable game.

"I know what will happen in the coming months if we don't win. Obviously it would be hard for us for the first few days if we lost but we want to advance.

"We must play our game, use our strengths and their weaknesses. We must not only attack but also defend well."

Robben is a doubt for the fixture after he missed training with a cold while Juventus will be without striker Dybala and midfielder Claudio Marchisio.

Both teams are looking to win a treble of trophies this season but the Italians have not won in Munich for 12 years, losing two of their three visits since then.

Massimiliano Allegri's team have won all bar one of their last 19 Serie A games and while their European results have fluctuated more, the manager is confident.

"When we play Bayern, we know we're going to have to run hard for 90 minutes but it is our intention to go there looking for the win that would seal our passage," said Allegri.

Defender Leonardo Bonucci added: "We go to Munich full of enthusiasm and determination. We're aware of how strong Bayern are but they also possess a few weak points which we'll look to exploit.

"No doubt about it, we started the first leg in completely the wrong fashion. It had nothing to do with what formation we were playing, we knew that we had to give more.

"We confronted one another face to face and took it upon ourselves to come out fighting and, from that point onwards, we saw the true Juventus once more."

Opta stats

Bayern Munich have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for the 8th consecutive campaign. They've made it to the semi-finals in five of the last six seasons.

Juventus and Bayern Munich's only previous encounter in the knockout stages of the Champions League saw the Bavarian side progress 4-0 on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the 2012/13 edition.

Juventus are winless in their last five Champions League games against Bayern Munich (D2 L3), their last victory dating back to November 2005 courtesy of a David Trezeguet brace (2-1).

Bayern Munich have averaged the highest possession in the competition this season (71%).

All five goals conceded by Bayern Munich in the Champions League this season have come in the final 30 minutes.

Juventus' three Champions League games against German opposition this season have all ended in draws (twice v Borussia Mönchengladbach, once v Bayern Munich).

Thomas Muller has scored 13 goals in his last 14 Champions League starts. While, Juve striker Alvaro Morata has scored five goals and delivered one assist in eight Champions League knockout games with Juventus.

Betting

Bayern are Sky Bet's 2/5 favourites for the victory and 1/8 to qualify, with Juventus 7/1 to win on the night and 18/1 to take the tie to extra-time with another 2-2 draw.

Guardiola's men are currently 100/30 second favourites behind Barcelona (13/8), while the Italian champions are given a 40/1 chance of lifting the trophy.

Robert Lewandowski heads the first goalscorer betting at 3/1 with Mario Mandzukic and Paulo Dybala considered the visitors' main threats at triple the odds to break the deadlock. 

Click here for all the latest Sky Bet odds ahead of Bayern Munich v Juventus.