Juventus resume their Serie A adventure after domestic action took a break for the World Cup at a ground last visited in the top flight 26 years ago. For the first match of 2023 the Bianconeri face Cremonese at the Giovanni Zini stadium on Wednesday 4 January, with kick off at 18:30 CET.
Let's take a look at the club from Lombardy's return to the top flight after an absence of a quarter of a century.
THE SEASON SO FAR
Cremonese currently sit in 18th place in the league table, ahead of Verona and Sampdoria but still in the relegation places, six points from safety. The Grigiorossi are still in search of their first win of the campaign, having earned their seven points from three home draws and four away. In the closing home fixtures before the season was put on hold, Cremonese held Udinese and Milan to goalless draws.
The team coached by Massimiliano Alvini have struggled to find the net at home, with only Leonardo Sernicola and Cyriel Dessers scoring in their seven home matches so far. In fact, the most recent goal at the Alvini was from Dressers in a 4-1 defeat to Napoli on October 9. Overall, the team has scored 11 goals and leaked 26, with only the two teams below them in the standings conceding more.
The last three teams to have remained winless after 15 matchdays in the history of Serie A have all been relegated come the end of the season, Hellas Verona in 2015/16, Benevento in 2017/18 and Chievo Verona the following year. Only one team has beaten the drop from such circumstances, Varese in 1970/71.
THE COACH
Masimiliano Alvini at 52 years old is enjoying his first experience as a coach in Serie A. The Tuscan tactician was hired after ex-Juventus midfielder and former Under 23 coach Fabio Pecchia left the club in the summer despite being the architect of the club's successful promotion push - achieved also in part due to the significant contribution from Nicolò Fagioli, on loan last year at the Lombardy team.
Fagioli was involved in 10 goals in his 33 appearances in Serie B, with three goals and seven assists, and was in fact the Cremonese player with most winning passes.
Alvini arrived following a season at Perugia, only his second season in Serie B after he had led Reggiana to promotion from the third division one year before. That achievement earned him the Panchina D'Oro for Serie C in season 2019/20.
Alvini's longest tenure at a single club were his seven seasons at Tuttocuoio, with whom he obtained promotion after promotion to take the local club from Pisa to the third division.
This is Alvini's first meeting with Juventus although he did face the Next Gen, then still U23, in the Serie C Italian Cup when at the helm of Reggiana. The match in August 2019, with as fate would have it Pecchia in charge of Juve U23, finished 3-3.