casillas, buffon
Iker Casillas and Gigi Buffon.Reuters

The giants of Portugal football and Italian football get set to clash on Wednesday (Feb 22) in the UEFA Champions League's round of 16. Porto take on Juventus at the Estádio Do Dragão in Portugal for their first-leg fixture.

The match is highlighted by the clash between two of the greatest goalkeepers of this generation — between Porto's Iker Casillas and Juventus' evergreen goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

This is the 17th meeting over the years in club football between Spain's former No. 1 Casillas, 35, and Italy's No. 1 still, Buffon, 39.

"I am lucky enough to be younger than Gigi. I was 14 when I started and he was 18; I was able to see and appreciate his style and personality," Casillas has been quoted as saying by the BBC ahead of the match.

"As I grew up, I looked up to him and then we evolved together and we've had similar careers. Ours is a healthy, positive rivalry. We really appreciate each other and playing against him is always a pleasure."

Shifting the limelight from the goalkeepers to the on-field players, FC Porto have no injuries to be worried about, while for Juventus, defenders Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini remain doubtful owing to thigh injuries.

Match schedule

Date: February 22

Time: 7:45 pm GMT (1:15 am IST [Thursday])

Venue: Estádio Do Dragão, Portugal.

Where to watch live

India: TV: Ten 1. Live streaming: Ten Sports live.

UK: TV: BT Sport 3. Live streaming: BT Sport live.

USA: TV: Fox Deportes, Fox Sports 2. Live streaming: Fox Sports Go.

Portugal: TV: Sport TV1.

Italy: TV: RSI La 2

Live score: Twitter.