January was a month of intense activity both on and off the pitch for Juventus. On the playing side, six matches were faced over three competitions, from Serie A to the Italian Cup and the Italian Super Cup. On the transfer front, two immediate reinforcements, Dušan Vlahovic and Denis Zakaria, arrived to bolster Massimiliano Allegri’s squad.
Now for February, another hectic month that sees the Bianconeri involved on three fronts once again, Serie A, the Italian Cup and the Champions League. The initial focus falls on the return to league duty this weekend, at the Stadium against Hellas Verona.
History smiles upon the Lady when Verona visit. The Bianconeri are unbeaten in the 30 Serie A matches played between the two sides in Turin. No other team can boast a similar record without loss to a single opponent in the Italian top flight. What’s more, Verona have conceded more goals, 104, to Juventus than to any other team.
However, this weekend’s visitors are offering their own particular brand of football under former Bianconeri defender, and assistant to Andrea Pirlo last season, Igor Tudor, and rewriting their club history along the way.
The Gialloblu have already scored 43 goals this campaign, a club record after 23 match days. In fact, in 24 of the 30 seasons played in Serie A, Verona failed to score as many over the entire season.
Added to the ease with which Tudor’s men are finding the net is an ability to impose their game outside of their own Bentegodi stadium. Their three wins in 2022 include back-to-back away victories, at Spezia and Sassuolo. Verona have not won three in a row on the road since 1984, the season they were crowned champions of Italy.
However, their most prolific marksman this season, and the player that put Juventus to the sword the first time the sides met this campaign, Giovanni Simeone, is ruled out through suspension.
That is not where the threat ends as Gianluca Caprari and Antonin Barak provide more than just the service for the centre forward. The two support strikers have also netted eight times each, so the Bianconeri defence will have to keep a close eye on these two dangermen no matter who replaces Simeone.
Suspension also affects Juventus. Booked at San Siro in the goalless draw with Milan before the international break, Manuel Locatelli will serve a one-match ban on Sunday. The arrival of Switzerland international Zakaria means that the number of players available in the middle of the park is not depleted.
In defence, Danilo is available and Leonardo Bonucci has returned to full training, although the Italy international is still not ready for a competitive match. Danilo's availability compensates for the loss of Alex Sandro, who tested positive for COVID while on international duty with Brazil and will return training on Monday.
Paulo Dybala and Juan Cuadrado returned from their World Cup qualifying matches with Argentina and Colombia respectively with a clean bill of health. Also returning buoyed from his spell with the national set-up is Weston McKennie. The midfielder, on the scoresheet against Verona at the Bentegodi, also found the net for USMT in midweek.
And with new face Vlahovic keen to make his debut, the players are buzzing to get into the thick of the action. Sunday night can’t come quickly enough.