Making their Champions League comeback after one year away, Italian giants Juventus host Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday evening.
On the opening matchday, the two-time winners will welcome 1988 victors PSV to Turin, as the clubs convene for their first competitive meeting.
Match preview
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Champions of Europe in both 1985 and 1996, Juventus have also lost seven finals in UEFA's top club competition down the years - including five during the Champions League era, which is more than any other club.
The Bianconeri were banned from European competition last year, missing out on taking part in the Conference League, and a run of 11 successive Champions League campaigns was brought to an end.
Having finished third in Serie A last season, in addition to claiming the Coppa Italia, they will now make their 24th appearance - an Italian record, three ahead of AC Milan.
After Max Allegri's second spell in charge dramatically ended soon after lifting the cup, new boss Thiago Motta stepped in, having led surprise side Bologna to fifth place last term.
Under Motta's watch, Juve started the season in style, posting back-to-back 3-0 wins with a younger squad and some exciting new recruits. However, they have since gone off the boil: a dull stalemate with Roma before the international break was followed by Saturday's 0-0 draw against Empoli.
Nevertheless, the Bianconeri have now achieved four successive clean sheets at the start of a Serie A season for just the fifth time ever, meaning they may prove hard to beat for their league phase rivals.
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While Tuesday's hosts watched on from afar, PSV were busy reaching the round of 16 last season, finishing second behind Arsenal in Group B before going out to eventual finalists Borussia Dortmund.
Now, the Eindhoven club make their 18th appearance in the Champions League proper - levelling the Dutch record of old foes Ajax - and will arrive in Italy full of confidence following a superb few months either side of the summer break.
Eredivisie runners-up for for three straight seasons, PSV finally broke through and claimed their first league title since 2018, finishing seven points clear of defending champions Feyenoord by setting a new national record.
Peter Bosz led his team to victory in 29 of their 34 top-flight matches - losing just one - and a final tally of 91 points was two better than Ajax posted back in 1998.
This term, the Rood-witten have started at a similar pace, having won all five league games so far - scoring 20 goals and conceding just three - while winning by a minimum two-goal margin each time. Most recently, they saw off 10-man NEC Nijmegen at the weekend.
Stretching back to last season, PSV have won 11 of their last 12 matches in the Eredivisie, and they are already on course to successfully defend a title for the first time since 2016.
However, a 3-2 victory over Sevilla last year was their only success in 17 Champions League away matches - of which they have lost 11 - so history will not be on their side in Turin.
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Team News
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After being quite cautious about using his new signings before the international break, Thiago Motta handed starts to Teun Koopmeiners, Nico Gonzalez, Pierre Kalulu and Douglas Luiz at the weekend, when Khephren Thuram made his comeback from injury by appearing from the bench.
Timothy Weah also returned to action following a thigh problem, but Francisco Conceicao is still struggling with a calf injury and may not be ready in time for Tuesday's game.
Motta has sprung several selection surprises by introducing youngsters such as Nicolo Savona and Samuel Mbangula, but the identity of his first-choice striker is quite clear; however, Dusan Vlahovic has failed to find the net three times out of four this season.
PSV's main marksman Luuk de Jong returned from an injury layoff on Saturday, scoring the first goal against NEC from the penalty spot. Meanwhile, midfielder Guus Til has scored in the Rood-witten's last three matches.
However, in-form winger Hirving Lozano - formerly based in Italy with Napoli - has been sidelined since a friendly against Genk earlier this month and may miss the trip to Turin.
Ismael Saibari made his first appearance of the season on Saturday so could be involved, but Noa Lang was absent, in addition to Rick Karsdorp (fitness), Sergino Dest and Armando Obispo (both knee).
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Di Gregorio; Kalulu, Gatti, Bremer, Cabal; Locatelli, Fagioli; Cambiaso, Koopmeiners, Yildiz; Vlahovic
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Ledezma, Flamingo, Boscagli, Dams; Til, Schouten, Veerman; Bakayoko, De Jong, Tillman
We say: Juventus 2-1 PSV Eindhoven
While PSV are simply unstoppable on the domestic scene, Juventus have proven they will be tough to defeat under their new manager.
As a result, this could be a knife-edge encounter, with Juve's solid back line and wide range of attacking talent just tipping the balance in their favour.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
