After three months in hibernation, the Europa League returns on Thursday, when Juventus welcome Nantes to Turin for the first leg of the teams' playoff round tie.

With a place in the last 16 at stake, the crisis-hit Italian giants will want to take a lead to France, but their visitors are enjoying a purple patch at the moment, having lost just one of their last seven Ligue 1 games.

Match preview

The make-up of this year's Europa League last 16 will be decided over the coming week, as eight runners-up from the competition's group stage and those sides that finished third in the Champions League groups will clash over two legs. Then, the winners will be pitted together with eight seeded teams who have already qualified.

Juventus are among the drop-outs from the latter competition, having crashed and burned in Group H, where they lost five times - including to relative minnows Maccabi Haifa.

While the Bianconeri bounced back from such a humbling on Europe's grandest stage by embarking on a long winning run in Serie A without conceding a single goal, events since the turn of the year have left the Europa League as one of their last feasible targets between now and June.

Deducted 15 points due to financial indiscretions, Juve subsequently suffered their second defeat of the season to promoted Monza, and embattled coach Max Allegri was even muttering darkly about a potential fight against relegation.

With three straight wins in league and cup to follow, though - and Juventus are now into the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia - the picture has somewhat brightened in Turin, and the 36-time Scudetto winners are up to ninth following a 1-0 victory over Fiorentina last weekend.

As part of their disastrous continental campaign during the autumn, Juve were beaten at home by Paris Saint-Germain, who in the process became the first French side ever to defeat the Old Lady in Italy.

They now meet Ligue 1 opposition once again, and will host Nantes as they did the 1996 Champions League semi-finals, when Juve won 2-0 at home and then went through after a 3-2 loss in France. In the final, they beat Ajax on penalties, and that remains the club's most recent European triumph.

Having also progressed in their national cup this month - as they continue their defence of the Coupe de France - Nantes join Juventus in boasting a good recent record, and Antoine Kombouare's side will fear no-one in the context of their domestic form.

After a 1-0 defeat of Lorient last weekend, Les Canaris have suffered just two losses in 18 games across all competitions - winning 10 times in the process. Ludovic Blas was again on the scoresheet at Stade de la Beaujoire, having found the net in a 2-0 victory over Ajaccio previously, which extended their unbeaten run on the road to seven matches all told.

While goals have proved hard to come by this season, a mere two have been conceded since the winter break, and a total of eight clean sheets in Ligue 1 demonstrates their resilience at the other end.

After moving closer to mid-table and further from danger near the foot of the table, Nantes now have both a Coupe de France quarter-final and their tussle with Juventus to look forward to during the next fortnight.

They earned the latter by virtue of a Group G campaign that saw them edge out Qarabag to finish runners-up behind Freiburg, with a record of three wins and as many defeats from six games.

Winning their final two Europa League fixtures in the autumn has taken them this far, and Nantes now aim for three consecutive victories in Europe for the first time since 2001.

Team News

Since their ignominious exit from the Champions League in November, Juventus have welcomed back Federico Chiesa from a long-term injury and captain Leonardo Bonucci is now also back in the fold. Juan Cuadrado has apparently recovered following illness, too.

However, Weston McKennie recently departed for Leeds United, and Arkadiusz Milik sustained a hamstring injury against Monza last month, which could keep the Polish striker sidelined until March.

In addition, rookie midfielder Fabio Miretti saw his breakthrough campaign disrupted by a sprained ankle last week and also misses out; Paul Pogba's absence continues, too, amid curious circumstances. The latter is yet to play a minute of competitive football for Juve since suffering a knee injury in July.

After Max Allegri loosened his cautious selection policy on Sunday to pick Chiesa, Dusan Vlahovic and Angel Di Maria together up front for the first time, he could continue that experiment in midweek. Alternatively, young Nicolo Fagioli would come in to provide an extra body in midfield.

Meanwhile, Nantes are set to be without Quentin Merlin due to an adductor problem, while veteran defender Nicolas Pallois has only just returned to full training following a knee injury but could still feature.

Nigerian winger Moses Simon is still struggling with a thigh issue, but having scored five times and made two assists for a low-scoring side before being injured against Marseille, he should play a part if passed fit. Fellow forward Ignatius Ganago will miss the match for personal reasons.

Evann Guessand could replace the latter in Turin, while Mostafa Mohamed will compete with recent loan signing Andy Delort to take the lone striker's spot.

Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Danilo, Bremer, Sandro; De Sciglio, Fagioli, Paredes, Kostic; Di Maria, Vlahovic, Chiesa

Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lafont; Centonze, Castelletto, Girotto, Pallois; Sissoko, Chirivella; Blas, Moutoussamy, Guessand; Mohamed

We say: Juventus 1-0 Nantes

The odd aberration aside, Juventus give very little away at the back, while Nantes are hardly prolific, for all their much-improved form. A low-scoring encounter should ensue, and a one-goal margin of victory for the Old Lady would keep the tie finely balanced ahead of next week's second leg.

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