Chiellini: Juve can punish Dortmund

The defender feels his side are the strongest they have been for years and believes his side can punish Dortmund if they give them space

Giorgio Chiellini is confident that Juventus can punish Borussia Dortmund for their "risky" style of play when they meet in their Champions League knockout tie.

The Serie A champions are in good form heading into the last-16 meeting with Jurgen Klopp's men, who lie 12th in the Bundesliga having recently clawed their way off the bottom spot with three consecutive wins.

While Chiellini admits that Dortmund's counterattacking style makes them a dangerous team to come up against, he feels they take a lot of risks and his side should be looking to punish them for it.

"There is great respect and a desire to win, to go ahead and continue to dream in this European adventure," he told Rai Sport. "We feel stronger and more mature than in recent years.

"Dortmund have important players back from injuries that held them back in the first half of the season, but over two games anything can happen.

"We must not allow them to hit us on the counterattack, because they have players that are great when given space. But playing like that means taking big risks and, in the first part of the season, they conceded a lot of goals in open play because of it."

The centre-back says his side are looking forward to playing in the knockout stages and hopes they put in a performance to be proud of.

"Our team's strong and has developed steadily in recent years, we want to show that in Europe," he added.

"But this should not be a chore, we must play with enthusiasm, like a dream, but without feeling the weight of responsibility of representing Italy in Europe."