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Tottenham Hotspur travel to Turn to face Juventus in the first leg of their Champions League knock-out series next week in what will undoubtedly be one of the signature match-ups of the round. At least one Juventus player, midfielder Sami Khedira, has very nice things to say about Spurs’ star striker Harry Kane, calling him “the most complete striker” in Europe during an interview with BBC’s Football Focus.
“I watched him a lot this year. I watched [Tottenham] against Liverpool and Arsenal, and they are strong, because they have a good defending, a really good midfield, a world-class attacking line, and a really good coach.
“But they are still young, and maybe this is a good thing for us. We have to be super focused because for me it’s one of the best teams in Europe and in England.
“Harry Kane for me is maybe the most complete striker, actually. There’s [Robert] Lewandowski, we have [Gonzalo] Higuain, but he’s strong, he’s good with the head, he’s fast, he’s good with the feet, he can score with one touch, he can dribble.
“For me he’s an amazing player and he’s still young. Tottenham’s lucky to have him.”
Juventus are worried about Harry Kane and about Tottenham and for good reason. Kane is joint second on the Champions League goal scorers list this season with six goals, tied with Roberto Firmino, Edinson Cavani, and Neymar, and behind Cristiano Ronaldo. He’s a threat to score every time he takes the pitch, and with Spurs as healthy as they’ve been all season they will undoubtedly put out their strongest team in Turin.
The midfield battle between Spurs and Juventus will be a particularly interesting one. Lately, Juventus has been playing in a 4-3-3 with Khedira and Miralem Pjanic alongside the now injured Blaise Maitudi. It’ll be interesting to see whether manager Massimiliano Allegri reverts to the 4-2-3-1 he played with to start the season or if he brings in a third midfielder to help out against Mousa Dembele and either Eric Dier or Victor Wanyama.
The first leg of the series is Tuesday, February 13 at 2:45 p.m. ET, 8:45 p.m. Turin.