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Sports News of Monday, 9 April 2018

Source: footballghana.com

Kwadwo Asamoah's Juventus with a mountain to climb against Real Madrid

Kwadwo Asamoah, Juventus midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah, Juventus midfielder

Kwadwo Asamoah and his Juventus team-mates have a mountain to climb when they take on Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League tie on Wednesday.

They trail 3-0 on aggregate in their quarter-final after Cristiano Ronaldo tore them apart in Turin last week. Asamoah had a solid game but he was powerless to stop Ronaldo’s outrageous bicycle kick inspiring Real to a resounding victory. Once again Juventus’ Champions League campaign is set to end in disappointment and Real Madrid – who beat them in last season’s final – are the architects once more.

Check 5dimes review for odds and you will see that Real Madrid are the overwhelming favourites to progress to the semi-finals at Juventus’ expense. Max Allegri’s men are given little chance of overturning such a heavy deficit, and their European adventure should be over for another season.

Real simply seem to find an extra gear when it comes to the knockout stage of Europe’s top club competition, and they look like they could win it for the third year in a row.

Asamoah’s hopes of joining fellow Ghanaians Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari as Champions League winner would appear to be in tatters.

Juventus should be able to land a consolation prize as they have overhauled Napoli in Serie A and they now enjoy a relatively healthy lead at the top of the table, with just a handful of games to go. It would be their seventh successive league title and a sixth for Asamoah.

The versatile star was a mainstay in the team for his first couple of seasons at Juventus, but he has become a bit-part player in recent years. Injury restricted him to seven league appearances in 2014-15, and then he only played 11 times in 2015-16 amid another raft of injuries, while he featured 18 times last season.

This time around he has started 15 Serie A games, which is a decent haul, but the first leg against Real Madrid was his first Champions League start of the season.

Nowadays he mainly serves as a backup to Alex Sandro in the left wing-back slot at Juventus. But when called upon Asamoah has served up timely reminders of his enduring class.

In the recent victory over high-flying Lazio, his positioning was astute, his tackling was strong and his amazing energy allowed him to bomb up and down the wing, causing all sorts of problems on the overlap and providing his team with a fantastic outlet.

He can also play across the midfield and his versatility, drive, and technical ability make him a great asset to Allegri over the course of the season.

But Asamoah may crave more regular first-team football, while Juventus could seek to overhaul the squad after falling short in the Champions League once more and spending much of the season playing catch-up in Serie A.

That is likely to spell the end of Asamoah’s stay in Turin, and several leading clubs are clamoring for his signature, as his deal runs out this summer. Internazionale is interesting in bringing him to Milan, while Galatasaray are desperate to take him to Turkey.

However, the most intriguing option for Asamoah, if he hopes to win the Champions League, could be a move to England. Chelsea, Tottenham, and Everton have all been linked with him in recent weeks, and the first two could certainly be challenging for Champions League glory in the years ahead.

Chelsea won it not so long ago, with Essien in the engine room, and if Roman Abramovich spends heavily again they should soon be back in the mix.

Spurs are a strong up and coming team and they too could challenge soon after beating Real Madrid in this season’s group stage and almost toppling Juventus in the last 16.

Asamoah should have strong options as he mulls over his next move, and if he leaves this summer he could eventually make Juventus rue their decision to let him go.