With this Juventus team, with who they signed over the summer for a club-record fee and with the expectations and aspirations they have pinned to his shoulders, making it to the Champions League Round of 16 is just another step in the journey. This is the expected, not the accomplishment that we want Max Allegri’s side to achieve. This is a piece of the puzzle, one that will hopefully be a fully-completed masterpiece come the first weekend of June.

Between the time of this match preview being written and the Champions League final, there are another six European fixtures that Juventus will have to not completely screw up in. (OK, I’ll try to be as positive as possible going forward, you guys.) There is the chance for a whole lot of things to go down, including Juventus participating in more than just one or two more draws where Pavel Nedved is seen in the crowd looking quite handsome.

But, for now, our mind is not on the next draw. Instead, it’s on how to get to the next draw.

Juventus and Atlético Madrid have known for the last two months that each other will be their next European opponents. It’s one of those classic “It coulda been better, but it probably also coulda been worse” kinds of draws where Juve will obviously be tested quite a bit but is also the favorite in the eyes of many based on one guy who they signed over the summer.