Come the start of next week, things are going to be quite difficult on multiple fronts when it comes to Juventus’ schedule. There’s a Coppa Italia semifinal to decide, there’s also big-time matchups against teams in the top six coming at Juve one after another. There is very much no rest for the weary Bianconeri, and that is something you don’t necessarily want to hear when there’s a Champions League spot at stake.
That’s why tonight’s matchup in Sardinia is quite the important one.
Juventus are facing a Cagliari side that sit 14th and are on the cusp of potentially falling back into serious relegation heat. As you might guess, our old buddy Claudio Ranieri doesn’t want to see that happen after helping get Cagliari promoted just a season ago. But there’s also Juventus’ big task of trying to avert more less-than-memorable moments against teams in the bottom half of the Serie A table, and the fact that they need points in the worst possible way to get that much closer to wrapping up a Champions League spot
The general line of thinking, from Max Allegri and others, is that seven points over the next six games will be enough to get that Champions League spot. I’ll let somebody else do the math, but if you can get three of those seven points before Milan, Roma and Bologna arrive over the next four weeks, that sounds like a pretty good thing to see happen.
So let’s hope that Juve can get those three points tonight in Sardinia. That sure would be nice considering how brutal the last 10 league fixtures have been. Maybe they’ll continue limping to the finish line. Or maybe they’ll realize they’re close to the finish line and try to finish strong. Either way, seven points, folks. That’s all we ask.
MATCH INFO
When: Friday, April 19, 2024.
Where: Sardegna Arena, Cagliari, Italy.
Official kickoff time: 8:45 p.m. in Italy and the Central European time zone, 7:45 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 2:45 p.m. Eastern time, 11:45 a.m. Pacific time.
STARTING LINEUP
Juventus starting XI (3-5-2): Szczesny; Gatti, Bremer, Danilo; Weah, Alcaraz, Locatelli, Rabiot, Cambiaso; Vlahovic, Chiesa.
Juventus bench: Perin, Pinsoglio, De Sciglio, Kostic, Alex Sandro, Milik, Yildiz, McKennie, Iling-Junior, Rugani, Djalo, Nicolussi Caviglia.
Cagliari starting XI (3-4-1-2): Scuffet, Hatzidiakos, Mina, Dossena; Nandez, Sulemana, Makoumbou, Augello; Gaetano; Luvumbo, Shomurodov.
Cagliari bench: Radunovic, Aresti, Lapadula, Viola, Deiola, Prati, Oristanio, Jankto, Wieteska, Zappa, Obert, Kingstone, Azzi, Di Pardo.
HOW TO WATCH
Television: TNT Sports 1 (United Kingdom); Sky Sport Uno, Sky Sport Calcio, Sky Sport 251, Sky Sport 4K (Italy).
Online/Streaming: Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo (United States); fuboTV Canada (Canada); discovery+, discovery+ app (United Kingdom); DAZN Italy, Sky Go Italia, NOW TV (Italy).
Other live viewing options can be found here, and as always, you can also follow along with us live and all the stupid things we say on Twitter. If you haven’t already, join the community on Black & White & Read All Over, and join in the discussion below.