Keen to return to the throne after two years, Juventus embark on a new Serie A season at home against last season’s mid-table outfit Sassuolo. A highly anticipated Monday encounter at the Allianz Stadium will serve to drop the curtain on the 2022/23 matchday one.
New season, new beginnings – at least that’s what every Juventus fan is hoping for following a thoroughly underwhelming 2021/22 season. Massimiliano Allegri’s side finished fourth in Serie A last term and, in addition, failed to land a single piece of silverware for the first time in over a decade.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. In a frantic attempt to reassemble a squad competitive enough to challenge for the Scudetto, Juventus have acquired the signatures of Angel Di Maria, Paul Pogba, Gleison Bremer, and Filip Kostic this summer. The latter joined the club earlier this week but should make the cut for this match-up.
In the meantime, the big-money departure of marquee striker Gianluca Scamacca for West Ham United may have opened a floodgate at Mapei Stadium. Sassuolo are facing an uphill task to retain the services of sought-after youngsters Davide Frattesi and Giacomo Raspadori amid speculations linking them with Milan and Napoli, respectively.
Unless Alessio Dionisi’s men fend off Italian big guns, their hopes of bettering last season’s 11th-place finish could be done and dusted before the season opener. For now, Sassuolo fans are celebrating the signings of Andrea Pinamonti and Kristian Thorstvedt. It may be short-lived if they lose Frattesi or Raspadori by the end of the summer.
Match Preview
Juventus
After winning nine successive Serie A titles between 2012 and 2020, Juventus have had to settle for a disappointing fourth-place finish across the last two seasons. Even a mere one-point lead on fifth-placed Lazio in 2021/22 shows how much Allegri’s side struggled in a league they had used to rule with authority for almost a decade.
Monday’s clash in Turin is an opportunity for a fresh start, and Juventus will be keen to seize it as they often did in the past. Indeed, the Bianconeri have won on 11 of the last 12 Serie A season openers on home turf, barring a 1-0 loss to Udinese in 2015/16.
However, their three-game home record against Sassuolo (W1, D1, L1) spells trouble, as does the fact they won just one of their final four home league outings at the tail-end of last season (D2, L1). If that’s not enough for concern, Juventus have lost back-to-back pre-season friendlies by 2+ goals ‘to nil’ in the build-up to this showdown.
Sassuolo
These are tumultuous times for the Sassuolo faithful. A shocking 3-2 defeat to last season’s Serie C outfit Modena in the opening Coppa Italia round seven days ago can hardly inspire the visitors’ bid to stun the Allianz Stadium again. Yet, a heroic 2-1 victory in Turin back in April still brings smiles to the travelling players’ faces.
You never know what you’d get from Sassuolo on the opening weekend, especially when they play outside Mapei. Dionisi’s men haven’t drawn any of their four Serie A matchday-one fixtures when playing on the road (W2, L2), adding an extra layer of mystery around this clash.
Regardless of their performance on Monday, Sassuolo will unlikely change their seasonal goals. After finishing between 8th-11th in each of their last five top-flight campaigns, the Neroverdi are after another top-half finish, though they may have to make it out with several long-serving stalwarts.
Team News
Prodigal son Pogba has returned to Turin after six disastrous seasons at Manchester United but only to pick up an injury in pre-season. The Frenchman has thus joined Federico Chiesa, Wojciech Szczesny, and Kaio Jorge on the sidelines. Juventus are still sweating over Weston McKennie and Juan Cuadrado, who are dealing with minor fitness problems.
Adrien Rabiot and Moise Kean are suspended, meaning Allegri faces a nightmare putting together a competitive line-up to tackle spirited Sassuolo. The visitors are without Maxime Lopez due to suspension, while prodigious midfielder Hamed Traore continues to struggle with an injury.
Juventus vs Sassuolo Potential Line-ups
Juventus (4-5-1): Mattia Perin, Mattia De Sciglio, Leonardo Bonucci, Gleison Bremer, Alex Sandro, Angel Di Maria, Denis Zakaria, Manuel Locatelli, Nicolo Rovella, Matias Soule, Dusan Vlahovic.
Sassuolo (4-3-3): Andrea Consigli, Mert Muldur, Riccardo Marchizza, Gian Marco Ferrari, Giorgos Kyriakopoulos, Pedro Obiang, Davide Frattesi, Kristian Thorstvedt, Domenico Berardi, Giacomo Raspadori, Emil Konradsen Ceide.