Mario Mandzukic has kept himself to himself this week. Not a talkative individual at the best of times, he was hardly about to pour his soul out to reporters in a period when all his energies have been focused on rehabilitating his injured left calf so that he might feature in Juventus’s Champions league last-16 clash with his former club, Bayern Munich.
Happily, Patrice Evra was prepared to speak for him. Asked how Mandzukic felt about facing Bayern, the Frenchman gave a succinct synopsis, replying: "He wants to hurt them."
Mandzukic left Bayern on bad terms two years ago, sold to Atletico Madrid for €22 million despite having fired the Bavarians to successive league titles. Pep Guardiola had taken over as manager at the start of the 2013-14 season, and under his charge Mandzukic had enjoyed the most prolific campaign of his career - scoring 18 times in the Bundesliga and 26 times in all competitions. And yet, the pair had never seen eye to eye.
The striker accused Guardiola of lacking respect, claiming the Spaniard had dropped him from the starting XI late in the season to make sure that he finished behind Robert Lewandowski - whom Bayern were about to sign from Borussia Dortmund - at the top of the Bundesliga scoring charts.
"Would I sit down with [Guardiola] to have a cup of coffee?" mused Mandzukic in an interview with Croatian newspaper Sportske Novosti in late 2014. "That is not going to happen. In my professional life I do not have to like everyone, but when I feel negative energy with someone I try and avoid that person."
Fate has brought them back together this Tuesday, however, even if only for a night. And it has reunited Juventus with a pair of their former players at the same time. Arturo Vidal and Kingsley Coman each swapped Turin for Munich in the summer.
Both players have impressed, but only the Chilean is expected to start this evening. His sentiment towards his former club could hardly be any more different to that of Mandzukic.
"I return to Turin as an opponent, not an enemy," said Vidal last week. "I don’t know how the fans will receive me, but I hope they will not whistle. I get emotional at the thought of it, if I score I will not celebrate. It will be strange to be there wearing a different shirt."
He probably has nothing to worry about when it comes to his reception. Juventus supporters remain grateful for the part he played in four consecutive league titles, even if some might like to see their team stuff back down his throat the words he told Bild back in August, when he professed to have joined Bayern because they were better equipped to win the Champions League.
The "immutable law of the ex", cited almost weekly by Italian newspapers (though conveniently forgotten whenever events fail to validate it) dictates that players are always decisive when facing their former teams. But with at least one such ‘ex’ likely to feature on either side of this encounter, which of them will it be?
Vidal is yet to score in Europe for Bayern, though he did so five times in six Champions League games for Juventus back in 2013-14. His freedom to roam forwards and join the attack might be increased if Massimiliano Allegri, as anticipated, opts to send Juventus out with a four-man defence - giving his team one fewer body in midfield.
Paul Pogba did offer one light-hearted suggestion for how to slow Vidal down. "We know him," said the Frenchman, "so we’ll kick him a couple of times, but not too hard."
The threat posed by Mandzukic at the other end, though, could be even greater. Allegri said Monday during his pre-match press conference that the Croatian will start the match, and his aerial ability will raise some tough questions for Bayern’s injury-depleted back-line.
With Javi Martinez, Jerome Boateng, and Holger Badstuber all sidelined, Guardiola is left contemplating a possible central defensive pairing of David Alaba and Joshua Kimmich - who stand 5-foot-11ins and 5-foot-9, respectively. Mandzukic, at 6-foot-3, would tower over either of them.
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Guardiola knows exactly how ruthless his former player can be in such circumstances. "In the box, there is no one better in the air in the world," said the manager shortly after they begun working together at Bayern in 2013. "When we get the ball there he is very, very strong."
After a slow start at Juventus - caused in part by a lingering elbow injury - Mandzukic has now scored nine times in 22 matches across all competitions. Three of those goals have been headers. And on every occasion that Mandzukic has found the net, Juventus has gone on to win the game.
He should not expect an abundance of opportunities against Bayern, who will seek to nullify his threat by keeping the ball away from their opponents altogether. The German champion has lost only two competitive fixtures all season, and was the last team to win away to Juventus in Europe - back in 2013.
But Mandzukic was playing for Bayern that night, and scored the opening goal. On this night, just like that one, he will aim to let his feet - and his head - do the talking.
