Is it fair to say that Juve are one of the favourites to win the Champions League?

Almost 4 months back, Juventus were staring at a disappointing Champions League exit in the round of 16 against Atletico Madrid but a certain someone scored thrice to bail Juve out of trouble. A month later, Juventus found themselves on the receiving end of some sublime football from a scintillatingly spirited young Ajax side that blew past Juve in the quarter finals. They thought that Cristiano Ronaldo was the missing piece in their quest for the European glory but even his efforts proved short. As the season ended with just a couple of trophies and not even a domestic treble, Allegri was surely on his way out. A few hundred miles away, Sarri was on the brink of an exit from Stamford Bridge and was seeking to go back to Serie A after a successful first stint there with Napoli. Sarri left Chelsea for Juventus after winning them the Europa Legaue. Some big signings were expected from Juventus this summer but not as much as they turned out to be. Juve have bought three big players to the Allianz Arena, the biggest of them being Matthijs de Ligt. The Ajax Centre back was linked to Barcelona and was supposed to join his team mate Frankie de Jong at the Camp Nou but when Netherlands played Portugal in the final of the Nations League, the story took a u-turn. Ronaldo had a chat with de Ligt for about 10 seconds and from how it turned out to be, it looks like those 10 seconds were enough for Cristiano Ronaldo to convince de Ligt to join him at Juventus. Juventus had problems at the back in the last season. They were breached a lot of times on the counter and 1 on 1 situations. Though Chiellini and Bonucci were good, they have older legs to run with therefore they needed someone at the back with fresh legs and a signing worth 75 million euros could prove more than handful for Juventus. When Ajax knocked Juve out of the Champions League, a lot of questions were raised about their midfield and not for no reason. Ajax had plenty of speed in their midfield with Frankie de Jong and they completely destroyed Juve's midfield. Juve were seeking solutions in the midfield and my god, haven't they signed two of the brightest talents on display! First Adrian Rabiot who they signed for free as he was out of contract with PSG and for some odd reason they wanted to get rid of him. Rabiot is one of the most talented midfielders in the world. He is good going forward, he can defend well and he is very good in the air as well. Another one was Aaron Ramsey from Arsenal who lightened up Emirates on a few occasions. Ramsey is as good a midfielder as anybody but the only problem with him is that he is not as good going back as he is going forward therefore he might not necessarily find himself in the starting XI but with Sarri system, he just might!
    Is it fanciful to say that Juventus are one of the favourites to win the Champions League this summer? Probably not because they can realistically challenge the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Barcelona. When Sarri arrived in Turin, he didn't have the team to play the game his way but now he has the players. Juventus have covered all the areas they lacked at in the last season by some very good and smart signings. The only problem might occur is if de Ligt is injured for weeks, Juve will again find themselves with a few tired legs at the back in Bonnuci and Chiellini. I am a big fan of Chiellini but it's only fair to accept the fact that he is getting older and he needs some assistance from younger legs such as Matthijs de Ligt.
     If I was Maurizzio Sarri, I would start with Szczesny despite the Buffon signing who will get an odd game against weaker opponent. In front of Szczesny, I would have de Ligt & Chiellini as the centre backs and Alex Sandro & Cancelo as the full backs. Juve have got a lot of options in midfield and it's a tough job to choose only 3 but I will go with Rasmey and Rabiot on either sides along with Pjanic in the middle. Mandzukic played as the centre forward last season with Ronaldo in one of the wings but I would prefer Ronaldo to start in the middle and just bang in goals as the centre forward with Bernadeschi on the left and Dybala on the right. I am a massive fan of Paulo Dybala but he seems to be on the verge of exit. As of now, there are no confirmed reports about his exit, therefore he will start in my team.

Imp Subs: Costa, Matuidi, Mandzukic, Kean, Bentancur, E.Can, Bonucci, Cuadrado