Here we go once more, my mates. A new Serie A season is upon us — and it’s laborious to actually determine my precise ideas about this present state of Juventus and the pleasure that comes together with that.
Maybe it’s a bit of the World Cup ending simply barely a month in the past. Maybe it’s as a result of Juventus are coming off a sixth-place end and the summer season mercato has been an attention-grabbing journey for a mess of causes. Or perhaps it’s simply one thing utterly totally different that my drained mind isn’t actually recognizing proper now. (Which is totally truthful, I assume.)
Either manner, a brand new marketing campaign begins on Sunday — one which all of us hope goes a bit bit higher than the final one.
Juventus start the 2026-27 season away from dwelling, dealing with certainly one of the three newly promoted sides in the type of Frosinone. The final time Juve rolled into the Stadio Benito Stirpe, it was the first time we noticed Kenan Yildiz rating at the senior stage and escape his Alessandro Del Piero-esque objective celebration. It introduced us pleasure and hopes for a younger rising expertise to lead Juve into the future. But the subsequent season and a half has not precisely resulted in an exquisite future as Juve constructed round their Starboy of a younger No. 10. Instead, Juve enter this new season with fairly muted expectations — at the very least coming from these of us on the outdoors.
Rather than being the membership that fights for league titles and as many trophies as they probably can, Juve will take the discipline on Sunday as simply one other candidate to attempt and qualify for the Champions League subsequent season. And the unlucky half in that’s it simply appears like the reality except one thing loopy occurs and they catch lightning in a bottle as the season goes on.
For now, although, it’s nearly getting off to a successful begin. For a staff that has not executed a ton of successful the previous couple of years, who is aware of how a lot one win in opposition to a membership that was simply in Serie B just a few months in the past will imply. You simply hope that it’ll perhaps get a bit little bit of perception going that they’ll in the end be a type of prime 4 groups come the springtime.
Juve have definitely spent a very good amount of cash this summer season even with there being no Champions League soccer on the schedule proper earlier than we head off into the first worldwide break of the season. They’ve spent nicely over €100 million to attempt and give supervisor Luciano Spalletti a extra aggressive squad to work with — though, as we all know, a really giant chunk of that cash has come from the two attacking gamers they introduced in proper earlier than they went on their preseason tour earlier this month.
“There are a lot of new things this season, firstly the players who can create things and find solutions,” Spalletti mentioned throughout his pre-match press convention. “There’s always an evolution, but you have to be good at adapting to this constant change. We have to think, reason and go into things in greater depth. I always try to keep myself up to date personally, and I’ll try to do that during the season as well, depending on our commitments.”
But dealing with a membership that’s taking part in its first recreation in Serie A following promotion is at all times an attention-grabbing type of endeavor — and dealing with Frosinone goes to be no totally different. Their stadium goes to be completely jacked up as a result of it’s the season opener and they’re again in Serie A, and it comes in opposition to Juventus on prime of it. You know what they’d love greater than something? Taking factors off the most profitable membership that Italy has.
It doesn’t matter if this present iteration of Juve is way off title competition as we enter a brand new season. Frosinone is a just lately promoted membership who would love nothing greater than to just about be certain that Spalletti’s squad mainly picks up the place it left off final season — and that’s with nothing actually all that optimistic happening.
Frosinone have been fairly energetic in attempting to improve their roster for his or her return to Serie A, together with forking out a club-record payment for attacking midfielder Romano Schmid from Werder Bremen. Schmid will seemingly sit in a basic trequartista position in Frosinone’s 3-4-1-2 formation, and be the man who makes issues occur and take a look at a Juventus protection that hasn’t at all times regarded completely stable throughout the handful of preseason friendlies.
It’s a difficult matchup for certain — and one which Juve will definitely have to handle nicely to come away with three factors to open the season.
But the humorous factor is, Juve opened the season fairly nicely final season. Or, at the very least we are able to say they received some video games to start the 2025-26 season. When it went dangerous, it went dangerous in a rush and in the end noticed Igor Tudor dismissed from his job earlier than the month of October got here to an finish. There was a very good begin in there, although. I get that it’s straightforward to overlook due to … nicely, all the pieces else.
Spalletti has had a full preseason. He has gotten a striker he has wished since the winter mercato. He has gotten the middle again signing he lengthy desired, too. The summer season mercato has not been nice, however it hasn’t been a complete bust (on paper) by any means.
So now, with the switch window nonetheless open, we get to see the video games begin for actual. The first of 38 matchdays is almost upon us. As a clever man on this web site mentioned a bit earlier, it’s time to get hurt again.
- Unfortunately, Spalletti won’t be coming into the opening recreation of the season with a full roster of accessible gamers. The most notable one is Federico Gatti, who has been coping with an ankle harm ever since he was (inadvertently?) taken out by a fan as a part of the discipline storming at the starting of the second half of the household match in opposition to the Next Gen squad on Monday.
- Also out injured is younger striker Jeff Ekhator, who has been coaching coaching away from the group for a lot of the previous week.
- Not referred to as up for the season opener is goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio, who is about to finalize his mortgage transfer to Premier League facet Bournemouth in the subsequent couple of days.
- The different goalkeeper who’s (seemingly) on the manner out, Mattia Perin, has been referred to as up by Spalletti. Perin, nonetheless, isn’t anticipated to begin and that is seemingly merely out of precaution greater than the rest as he appears to be like set to be a part of Palermo in the close to future.
- A participant who additionally acquired referred to as up to face Frosinone? Nico Gonzalez! He will probably be carrying the basic winger package variety of 31.
- Spalletti didn’t give many clues when it comes to his beginning lineup throughout his pre-match press convention, however he did say that two summer season signings will play: Randal Kolo Muani and Guglielmo Vicario.
- With Khephren Thuram nonetheless working his manner again into full health — he didn’t seem in any of Juve’s friendlies — the double pivot anticipated to face Frosinone is Manuel Locatelli and Douglas Luiz.
- The advantage of this being the season opener? Nobody is liable to yellow card suspensions. Enjoy it whereas it lasts!
There’s a whole lot of methods we are able to go together with this simply because it’s the first recreation of a model new season.
Ultimately, although, you’ll be able to’t win video games in case you don’t rating targets. And Juventus simply spent almost three complete switch home windows attempting to usher in the similar striker. They might have gotten that striker, however it wasn’t low-cost nor with out loads of ready.
And with that price ticket now comes expectations — and a whole lot of that — now on the shoulders of Randal Kolo Muani.
Kolo Muani will probably be main the line on Sunday night. This is what we all know, and it’s what we anticipated to see contemplating how he’s very a lot the clear-cut prime striker on this roster. There’s no extra competing with Dusan Vlahovic for minutes like we noticed throughout RKM’s first stint in Turin. Instead, Vlahovic has taken his act to Turkiye and Kolo Muani has taken over the No. 9 shirt.
It’s one thing that some are in favor, others are usually not satisfied by and others are simply ready to see in order that they’re not leaping to conclusions simply but.
But, guess what? Juventus want the model of Kolo Muani that was a real menace throughout his first stint with the membership. Not the one which was trying sad with Tottenham Hotspur — primarily as a result of a return to Juve didn’t materialize — for a lot of final season. Instead, they want the one that’s completely satisfied and taking part in prefer it as a result of he’s now again at the membership he’s spent the higher a part of the final 18 months wanting to come again to.
Both for on-field success and to merely justify shelling out a lot cash for him this summer season.
Maybe banking on Kolo Muani being completely satisfied to be again at Juventus is simplistic and all the pieces. We know that there’s an entire lot of causes as to why his mortgage spell at Spurs was not superb in any respect. But he’s again at Juve now and will get each alternative to present he’s a striker who can lead this staff to higher days.
One season opener will probably be the figuring out issue, however a powerful begin to his return to Juve can solely assist begin to probably change the viewpoint that he’s not that type of participant. Only a method to discover out, proper?
When: Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026.
Where: Stadio Benito Stirpe, Frosinone, Italy.
Official kickoff time: 6:30 p.m. native time in Italy and throughout Europe, 5:30 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 12:30 p.m. Eastern time, 11:30 a.m. Central time, 9:30 a.m. Pacific time.
Television: NBC Universo (United States); TLN (Canada).
Online/Streaming: Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network, fuboTV, NBC Universo NOW, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (United States); DAZN Canada; fuboTV Canada (Canada); DAZN UK (United Kingdom); DAZN Italia (Italy).
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