Serie A giants Juventus are preparing to face Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League in a couple of weeks. The Blues have, of course, sacked Luiz Felipe Scolari in order to keep their silverware push on track - or that's the story, at least.

Juve boss Claudio Ranieri, himself a previous recipient of the Stamford Bridge boot, now has to rip up most of the pages of his dossier following the Brazilian's exit.

The wily coach thought he had a pretty good idea of how to beat his old side but now admits that the water has been muddied.

"We could have done without this change," said Ranieri told the press ahead of the February 25 first leg in London

"I had studied Scolari's team intently but now we will have to start from the beginning.

"It will be another Chelsea and I will only have two weeks to get to know it."

Bianconeri goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has also been monitoring events in England, displaying a nonchalance towards the departure that borders on ice cold.

"It would have been better if [Scolari] had been sacked after they hadn't got through to the next round, he smiled.

"However, a change of manager means the team aren't doing well. Usually this would mean they'd be weak. [They will now be] full of desire so we'll see.

"I don't know if it's in our favour. I think it might have a positive effect."