Juventus: Is The Old Lady Set For A Memorable 22-23?
Juventus is the most historic team in all of Italy, but what will they look like this upcoming season?
Juventus hasn’t won a major European trophy in many years, but they are still the greatest team in Italy, regardless of what fans or Inter Milan, Milan, or Atalanta want to say. The real concern for fans of the old lady is the fact that they have gone from winning nearly ten straight Italian top flight championships to now barley qualifying for the UEFA Champions League the last couple of seasons. This year and last year they finished in fourth place in the league and earned the final spot for qualification. But what will they look like this upcoming season?
The transfer portal has been great and bad for Juventus at the same time as they’ve lost longtime players Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata. Dybala is staying in the country and will play for AS Roma, while Morata returns to Spain with Atletico Madrid. On top of losing those two they also lost longtime club captain and one of the greatest players in the history of the club, Giorgio Chiellini who made the move to Major League Soccer to play for LAFC alongside Gareth Bale. They also lost one of their brightest young players Matthijs De Ligt, as well as Frederico Bernardeschi.
However, on the positive side of things Juventus is bringing in some quality players with the likes of Angel Di Maria who comes over from Paris St. Germain on a free transfer. The returning Paul Pogba also comes over on a free transfer and seems like he is happy to be home in Turin. Gleison Bremer will make the short trip across the city and join Juventus from Torino as well. It will also be interesting to see what Juventus does in the winter transfer window midway through the 2022-23 season, with UEFA Champions League play approaching.
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Juventus 2022-23 Outlook
Juventus will also have a fully healthy Weston McKennie, who was in the best form of his career before his injury last season. It came in Juve’s UEFA Champions League game against Atletico Madrid and it forced him to sit out for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. While they will have a bunch of new faces on the field they are absolutely in a position to win the league for the first time in nearly half a decade. They will also be guaranteed a spot in the UEFA champions league group stage as well and have the potential to make a deep run.
They will also likely have their star player Federico Chiesa back after a season ending injury. This time for good as he was officially bought by Juventus over the offseason. The striker position will be headlined by Dusan Vlahovic in his first full season with the old lady, and alongside him will likely be Chiesa or Moise Kean in most matchups. Szczesny returns in goal and Bremer is sure to make an immediate impact alongside Bonucci on the backline. Leo Bonucci was just recently named captain for the upcoming season while Alex Sandro will serve as vice captain.
They open the season with three straight friendlies in the United States against Liga MX side Gaudalajara and then Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, as well as a forth against the team who knocked them out of last year’s champions league Atletico Madrid. Then it’s back home to open up league play with a game against Sassuolo. They will host former star Paulo Dybala and Roma on August 27th, and the first Derby Della Mole will come on October 16th at Torino. The first Derby d’Italia will be played at home against Inter Milan on November 6th before the World Cup break.
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