Back to Serie A action following September’s international break, out-of-sorts Juventus entertain bottom-half Bologna at the Allianz Stadium. Sunday’s encounter in Turin has all the makings of a must-win affair for Massimiliano Allegri if he’s to keep hold of his job following a nightmarish September.
The two-week hiatus from club football to accommodate the completion of the UEFA Nations League came at an opportune time for Juventus. Allegri’s men would like to September as quickly as possible after going winless in all five competitive matches last month (D2, L3) and seeing three of their players plus their manager sent off! No wonder the Bianconeri hierarchy considers dispatching their head coach early in the season.
It takes no rocket science to understand Allegri may soon follow in the footsteps of Sinisa Mihajlovic, who was relieved of his duties as a Bologna manager last month. Unfortunately for the visitors, the managerial change has done too little to improve the team’s overall performance. Winless in six of their opening seven Serie A outings (D3, L3), they head into this round in 16th.
Both sides enter this matchday in desperate need of three points. However, while Bologna may even settle for a draw, nothing less than a victory will do for Allegri, who has grown into a highly unpopular figure in Turin. With the Juventus board already assessing their options, the Italian manager has no margin for error.
Match Preview
Juventus
Angel Di Maria’s first-half red card facilitated Monza’s first-ever Serie A win on the stroke of the international break. Down to ten men, Juventus suffered a lot and eventually lost 1-0 at the Stadio Brianteo, making it one win from six league matches (D4, L2).
Following Napoli’s comfortable 3-1 home triumph over Torino on Saturday, Juventus face imminent danger of dropping out of the Scudetto race in October. Indeed, with ten points separating the sides ahead of tomorrow’s kick-off, the Bianconeri can ill-afford another sub-par result.
However, Bologna’s visit to the Allianz Stadium could change the narrative for Juventus. The record-time Italian champions have only lost one of their last 39 top-flight matches against the Rossoblu (W28, D10), courtesy of a 2-0 defeat in 2011.
Even without the likes of Di Maria and Paul Pogba, Juventus will take the field as odds-on favorites after winning eight of their last nine home league clashes against Bologna.
Bologna
Bologna’s dismal five-match winless start to the new Serie A season (D3, L2) forced the club to cut ties with long-serving manager Mihajlovic. In their first league outing in the post-Mihajlovic era, Marko Arnautovic and his teammates overhauled a 1-0 second-half deficit during a 2-1 home triumph over Fiorentina.
The stage looked set for new boss Thiago Motta to get his stint at Renato Dall’Ara off to a flyer. But the former Spezia head coach’s career at Bologna instead started with a whimper rather than a bang. Filippo Bandinelli’s late strike fired Empoli to a narrow 1-0 victory at Dall’Ara, spoiling Motta’s welcoming party.
If the visitors’ away form in 2022 is anything to go by, there’s not much the former Inter midfielder can hope for in Turin. Bologna have claimed just one win across their 13 Serie A travels this calendar year (D5, L7), beating last season’s relegation boys Genoa 1-0 in May.
Juventus vs Bologna Potential Line-ups
Juventus (3-5-2): Wojciech Szczesny; Gleison Bremer, Leonardo Bonucci, Danilo; Juan Cuadrado, Manuel Locatelli, Leandro Paredes, Adrien Rabiot, Filip Kostic; Arkadiusz Milik, Dusan Vlahovic.
Bologna (3-5-1-1): Lucasz Skorupski; Adama Soumaoro, Gary Medel, Jhon Lucumi; Denso Kasius, Jerdy Schouten, Nicolas Dominguez, Roberto Soriano, Andrea Cambiaso; Nicola Sansone; Marko Arnautovic.