Juve injury woe gives Fulham Europa League hope

An injury crisis at Juventus has boosted Fulham’s hopes of overturning a 3-1 deficit in their Europa League last-16 second leg match against the Italians on Thursday.

Juve bossed the first leg in Turin last week and looked to be on the brink of the last eight but injuries to a raft of players have given the Londoners a glimmer of hope.

First-choice goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and his under-study Alex Manninger have both been ruled out with thigh injuries, meaning third-choice keeper Antonio Chimenti is in line to make his UEFA club debut.

Giorgio Chiellini, Martin Caceres, Amauri, Sebastian Giovinco and Michele Paolucci are also injured, while central defender Nicola Legrottaglie is suspended, and midfielder Hasan Salihamidzic says the visitors will have to be on their toes at Craven Cottage.

“It’ll be very hard over there because it’s a small ground,” said the Bosnian.

“They play with a great tempo at home and we’ll have to be very careful. But if we put them under pressure, the sort of pressure we did in the first leg, it will be really hard for them to play well.”

Fulham are without a win in their last five matches but striker Bobby Zamora says their home form could give them an edge.

“It’s going to be a tough game, we know that, but we’ve got a good home record,” said the England World Cup hopeful.

“We’ve beaten Manchester United and Liverpool at home this season and I see no reason why we can’t beat Juventus.”

Juventus are one of three sides taking a 3-1 advantage into the second leg, with Standard Liege and Hamburg similarly well placed against Panathinaikos and Anderlecht respectively.

The other five ties are more finely poised, with Lille on the verge of a famous upset after defeating five-time European champions Liverpool 1-0 in the home leg of their tie last week.

“We’re holding all the cards. But at the same time, we should keep our feet on the ground because if we can win at home then so can they,” warned Lille coach Rudi Garcia.

“It’ll be a true battle and we’ll need to give it our all. But even if we concede three at Anfield and go out, I’m sure we’ll have done our best.”

Portuguese league leaders Benfica visit Marseille needing to score after Hatem Ben Arfa’s last-minute header earned the French side a 1-1 draw in the first leg.

Benfica, though, are the competition’s second-highest scorers behind Werder Bremen and Brazilian international midfielder Ramires has faith in his side’s attacking ability.

“Of course we can score over there,” he said. “We just have to stay calm and focus. We’ve played the first half and now the second half is coming up. We’ll be very focused.”

Valencia are in the same position as Benfica, travelling to last season’s runners-up Bremen after a 1-1 first-leg draw.

The Spanish side, currently third in La Liga, boast the talents of Spain internationals David Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata, and Bremen centre-back Naldo has urged his side not to lose their focus during the game.

“If you face players like Villa, Silva and Mata you cannot leave them any space to work in,” he said.

“Our grand objective is to win this trophy because it was a blow to lose the final last season. However when we finished the first game in Valencia we were reminding ourselves we are not in the quarter-finals yet. We still need to concentrate.”

Bremen’s cause has been helped by suspensions to Valencia midfielders Ever Banega and Pablo Hernandez, while Villa is a doubt with the shoulder injury that kept him out of the 3-0 defeat at Barcelona on Sunday.

In Thursday’s remaining games, German champions Wolfsburg host Russian counterparts Rubin Kazan with the aggregate score 1-1, while Sporting Lisbon’s tie with Atletico Madrid is yet to feature a goal.

The draw for the quarter-finals takes place on Friday.