Tuesday night will play host to arguably the standout tie of the Champions League last 16 as the 2014-15 runners-up Juventus host Bayern Munich in the first leg.

The two sides are among the most in-form teams in European football right now and have reached the final of this competition 18 times between them.

Juventus

Having dominated Italian football in recent years, winning the Serie A title in each of the last four seasons, Juventus are beginning to re-establish themselves as one of the best teams in Europe too.

The Old Lady made it all the way to the final last term having already clinched a league and cup double, but they were pipped to the post by Barcelona, who were chasing a treble of their own.

There appeared to be no hangover from that defeat, at least in Europe, when Juve opened the group stage with victory over Manchester City at the Etihad, before going on to remain unbeaten throughout their opening five games of this season's campaign.

However, a loss to Sevilla on the final matchday saw them surrender top spot to City, and they have subsequently been handed one of the trickiest ties that they could have got having made it through to the knockout stages in consecutive seasons for the first time in a decade.

In truth, their group-stage record will not exactly fill Bayern with fear. They managed just six goals on their way to the knockout phase, which was not only the lowest tally of any team to reach the last 16, but also the lowest tally in Group D itself.

Fortunately for Massimiliano Allegri's side, they boast one of the meanest defensive records in Europe over the past few months and go into Tuesday's match on a run of nine consecutive clean sheets. Making it 10 in a row, and preventing Bayern from getting an away goal, could be crucial to their chances of reaching the quarter-finals.

Things didn't start too well for Juve this season in terms of domestic action, with just one win from their first six Serie A games leaving the champions languishing in the bottom half of the table.

However, they have been in phenomenal form since the end of October, stringing together a club-record 15-match winning streak in the league to race up the table and eventually overhaul Napoli at the top, where they now have a one-point gap and look to be on course for a fifth consecutive title.

The long winning streak, which also stood at 13 games in all competitions, came to an end on Friday night, though, as Juventus were held to a goalless draw by Bologna in a game that saw Paul Pogba miss the most presentable chances.

At home, though, their run goes on. They have won their last 11 games at the Juventus Stadium, conceding just two goals in that time and none since December 13, while their unbeaten home record in all competitions currently stands at 16.

In Europe they have only lost two of their last 45 home games going back to the start of the 2004-05 season, although both of those defeats did come at the hands of Bayern, who are the only foreign side to have ever won at the Juventus Stadium.

Recent form: WWDDWL
Recent form (all competitions): WWWWWD

Bayern Munich

There can be many parallels drawn between Juventus and Bayern Munich, both this season and in recent campaigns.

Both have dominated domestically, with Bayern having won the Bundesliga title in each of the last three seasons and looking good for a fourth with an eight-point lead at the top of the table.

Both come into this match in formidable form too. Bayern, like Juventus, have not been beaten in any competition since early December and the two sides have an identical record of nine wins and one draw from their last 10 outings.

The key difference, however, comes in the success of Bayern on the European stage. While Juventus have not won Europe's highest club honour since 1996, Bayern were able to complete the treble in 2013 and have reached at least the semi-finals in five of the last six seasons.

The accolade of being the best club in Europe is not one that has been bestowed upon them under the tenure of Pep Guardiola so far, though, and the Spaniard may view his time at the Allianz Arena as incomplete if he is unable to rectify that this season.

With a move to Manchester City at the end of the current campaign, time is running out for Guardiola to take Bayern to the heights of his predecessor Jupp Heynckes, who left the club having steered them to an unprecedented treble.

It is, of course, no mean feat to win the Champions League, and Guardiola is looking to join a select group of just two other managers - Bob Paisley and his Bayern successor Carlo Ancelotti - in winning the competition three times.

However, such are the standards that he has set during his relatively short managerial career so far that failure to lift Europe's biggest prize having taken over with the club as the best team on the continent would be seen as something of a black mark on his impeccable record.

He certainly has the players to emulate Heynckes and leave at the top, though, with Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller having combined to score 56 goals between them this season, including 12 in the Champions League - twice as many as Juventus's entire squad have managed.

Lewandowski alone beats the Old Lady's tally of Champions League goals this season and has 30 in all since making his debut in the competition in 2011-12 - a tally only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi can beat in the same timeframe. So far this season, the Poland international has 40 goals in 37 appearances for club and country.

Bayern have, however, failed to win any of their last five away games in the knockout stages of this competition and will need to become the first visiting side to score a Champions League goal at the Juventus Stadium this season if that record is going to change.

Recent form: WWLWWW
Recent form (all competitions): WWDWWW

Team News

Striker Mario Mandzukic scored 39 goals in 74 appearances during a two-year stint with Bayern, including one in the 2013 Champions League final, but he is unlikely to be fit in time to face his former club having been sidelined for almost a month with a thigh injury.

Giorgio Chiellini is expected to be another high-profile absentee for the hosts due to a calf problem, while Alex Sandro (thigh) is also likely to miss out.

Bayern, meanwhile, gave a welcome return to winger Franck Ribery at the weekend following a long-term thigh injury, although Guardiola may be cautious of throwing the Frenchman straight into the starting XI for such a big game.

Mario Gotze was also in the squad for the come-from-behind victory over Darmstadt, but he too is lacking match practice having not played since early October.

Both are expected to be involved at some stage of the encounter, but Bayern will be without Jerome Boateng (groin), Javi Martinez (knee) and Holger Badstuber (ankle) for the match.

Arturo Vidal and Kingsley Coman return to Turin having left Juve for Bayern last summer, with the former having made 157 appearances and won four Serie A titles with the Bianconeri.

Juventus possible starting lineup:
Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Barzagli, Evra; Cuadrado, Khedira, Marchisio, Pogba; Dybala, Morata

Bayern possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Lahm, Kimmich, Alaba, Bernat; Robben, Vidal, Thiago, Costa; Muller; Lewandowski

Head To Head

These two sides have only met once before in the knockout stages of the Champions League, with Bayern winning 2-0 in both legs of the 2012-13 quarter-final on their way to lifting the trophy.

Bayern have won the last three and are unbeaten in the last four meetings between the two teams in this competition, with Juve's most recent victory coming in November 2005 when David Trezeguet notched a brace in a 2-1 win.

Juventus have won 14 of their previous 22 home matches against German opposition (D3 L5), while Bayern have won seven, drawn three and lost nine of their 19 games in Italy (W4 D1 L5 in knockout ties).

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We say: Juventus 2-1 Bayern Munich

This is a mouth-watering clash between two giants of European football, both of whom are in magnificent form. Bayern's away record in the Champions League is surprisingly poor under Guardiola, but they have the quality to breach the stern Juve defence and clinch an away goal. We're picking the hosts to win on the night, but Bayern to very much stay in the tie ahead of next month's second leg in Munich.