Genoa v Juventus
Serie A Week 14 – Sunday, 27th November – 14:00 GMT – Stadio Luigi Ferraris
Juventus
Gonzalo Higuain and Medhi Benatia return to the Juventus squad for a tricky visit to Genoa.
The Bianconeri have been hit by a number of injuries but the worst appears to be over with Paulo Dybala returning to the team next week while Marko Pjaca should be back in time for the SuperCoppa match against AC Milan.
“It’ll be a battle tomorrow, as Genoa are very aggressive and we need to fight them on their own terms,” Allegri told the gathered press.
“In my first year at Juventus, we lost against Genoa, so this is an important fixture. We must remain concentrated. There’s only one Champions League game from now until March, so we have to focus on Serie A.
“It would be insane to think we could just sit on a seven-point lead at the top of the table. It’s not that much. We’ve got to keep our feet firmly on the ground and step on the gas. It’d be irresponsible not to understand the situation.
“The next 20 days are going to be very important, as a good chunk of the campaign will be decided now. We’ve got some players back and Dybala will be available next week too.”
Could 16-year-old Moise Kean start over Higuain?
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. He’d have a good game, because he has really improved lately. He is a player in the squad, like all the others.
“Higuain is available, then we’ll see whether to put him in from the start or as a substitute. If Higuain does start, it will be alongside Mandzukic. If not, then it’ll be the same attack as in Sevilla.
“If you want to be at Juve, you need to be in competition for places, though the faith I have in Mandzukic is undeniable.
“Giorgio Chiellini will not play, so it’s either Daniele Rugani or Benatia.”
Probable lineup:
3-5-2: Buffon; Benatia, Bonucci, Evra; Lichtsteiner, Khedira, Hernanes, Pjanic, Sandro; Mandzukic, Higuain.
Injuries:
Pjaca (fibula), Mandragora (foot), Dybala (thigh), Barzagli (shoulder), Lemina (flu)
Suspensions:
None.
Genoa
Probable lineup:
3-4-3: Perin; Izzo, Burdisso, Munoz; Lazovic, Rincon, Cofie, Laxalt; Rigoni, Simeone, Ocampos
Injuries:
Pavoletti
Suspensions:
Veloso, Orban
Formation
Tricky game, but Genoa will miss Pavoletti and Veloso more than we will miss our injured players.
Hoping (and somewhat expecting) a win here, we cannot slip up, as Allegri pointed out too. 7 points is nothing at this stage.
A JuventusFC Twitter account states the following starting lineup:
Buffon, licht, bonucci, benatia, alves, khedira, hernanes, pjanic, cuadrado, mandzukic, sandro.
Which is bizarre but could also be genius. Lichtsteiner and khedira understand each other well (assumimg they are in good form). Cuadrado will do his thing as always, no matter who he’s paired with.. And dani alves could be just what pjanic needs to create movement around him and play incisive passes. Alves, pjanic, and sandro together could create some serious overlap. I hope it works.
I also hope that sandro commits a bit more to the attacking winger role this time around, as last game he seemed to be a little late on attack, and on one occasion horribly late on defense after losing a ball which could/should have led to a goal for sevilla. In other words, he was neither here nor there (positionally; otherwise he still had a good game). And please juan guillermo, finish those neat runs with a cross!! If we can get some consistent crosses out of him, he could be world class.
Nevermind. It’s a 3-5-2..
Wtf is this shit?
We are 3-0 down in less than 30min against a mid-table team…..
Cant watch the game but whats going on? 3-0 down and whats with this line up?
So Allegri lines up with 5 defenders in the starting 11.
Genius move against a mid table team.
From here on out. We should play as much defenders as we can at once, and the masterful Mandzukic.
This team looks more and more like something Del Neri would pick. It reeks of fear, insecurity and is everything BUT a Juventus team. Is this lo still do Juve?
It’s not just against Genoa. It is in every game. It’s Allegris whole cautious mentality, his fear and insecurity in everything.
Second half is about to start. Let’s wait until minute 86 to make changes.
This is not the thing one expects on any given sunday!
Missed the first half, but what the hell happened?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7b731816ceb5326030ffcde2b25e5944ac7c8d80614a115d894d3e769283f980.png Who misses this guy?
He chose to leave though. Nobody forced him out. He thought the squad was not good enough to compete in the champions league. That same squad that Conte thought was not good enough Allegri took to the final.
Alves and Pjanic have not been impressive at all as Juventus players.
I dont know how he has played today but I do miss Lichtsteiner at the back
We are 3-0 down and still can’t create any chances, something is just lacking this season.
Yes, the midfield is still not right and we have lost Dybala and Gonzo only played half a match, but he isn’t getting the service he needs anyway.
A result like this was always coming, especially if you combine a bad day at the office with injuries to key players.
Allegri always fucking manages to find a way not to start Rugani. Puts Alves in a 3 man D. Laughable.
He has a perfectly good CB in Rugani who played amazing vs. Sevilla but then starts him on the bench against Genoa to play Alves out of position.
Im getting tired of Allegri and his fuckin shit.
Three times after CL matches the next league fixture is lost.
I’ve been so busy in the last months I don’t even know what’s going on anymore.
So now that Alves is injured, are we getting a new right back for the CL, or will we rotate Cuadrado and Barzagli there? Can we add Stephan to the squad from January, or is he out for good?
How fucking stupid was that decission to not sign up Lichtsteiner? Even as back up. Now we are screwed.
I know, right? We could have leave a midfielder out for him, and play him there if we run out of midfielders. I don’t think it’s possible the other way.
Although if we can add him to the squad as we would add a new player, we definitely should.
I heard we can make changes to the roster in january, so Allegri will most likely do that.
What did Allegri bring to this team? Constant injuries! Bonucci, Rugani, Chiellini, Barzagli, Benatia, Dybala, Pjaca, Madzukic, all had thigh muscle injuries! How the hell does this continue to happen? How can’t he see that his training methods are not working, third continues season.
I’m surely not raising any alarms and nagging after defeat against Genoa, but Allegri is not in Juventus level, never has been and never will be. Never liked the man, but hats of for that CL final, how he did it, who knows…
He has no tactical preference, he’s just using Conte’s winning tactic, he never even tried playing a different one in Serie A, just few times in CL and that’s not good enough.
I really miss Conte at the helm, and blame our board for not giving him the funds to take this team all the way in the CL. He would crush this competition with these players, just look what he has been doing in Chelsea.
Allegri out, Conte in!
Speaking of funds, the Higuain transfer was a waste of money. Im not bashing him because i think he’s a world class, high quality striker. He just wasnt worth the 90 million they paid for him and he isnt necessarily what we needed. I certainly dont mind having him and the money they spent isnt mine, but come on. They could have been wiser. As careful as they’ve been with spending the last bunch of years, this move was dumb and reckless and went against their philosophy entirely. 90 million is alot of fucking money.
Good luck getting Conte. Thats not happening.
This has become a team without vision or plausible ideas. Watching the same exact game plan every single week has been excruciating to watch. I am not sure what Allegri is doing but it is not working lately, on any fronts. I’ve yet to watch an impressive game from Juventus against a formidable opponent this year. Yes we beat sevilla but thanks to a penalty and a volley from our CB…… alarming situation. I rather see Kean start over Mandzukic, Mario is just about useless folks. The day we stop giving excuses and stop defending fringe players is when Juventus will be elevated to the elite group. I don’t even know what formation we are trying to play as nothing seems to be really working. The game plan is so predictable, start off from the goalie, use the center backs to lunge the ball forward to the wingers, who in turn make useless crosses that no seems to be able to connect to. This team lacks an imagination and will, if Sturaro is the sub you make while you are down 3-0 then I am sorry but what the f*** are you smoking Allegri? I’m not throwing stefano under the bus here, but he brings nothing on the offensive front. If anything maybe he should learn the CB role as it is more fiting for him. If we dont get some creative middfielders in the next transfer window I am afraid this team wont make it past the round of 32 in CL.
You probably mean the round of 16. 32 is the group stage which we have already made it through.
One loss, wow
Forza Juve, Forza Allegri