Preview: Juventus vs Hellas Verona, Serie A Gameweek 27

Preview: Juventus vs Hellas Verona, Serie A Gameweek 27

  • Merlin 2025/03/02 03:27
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Despite dominating the ball against Serie A strugglers Empoli - who had just been thrashed 5-0 by Atalanta BC - Juventus failed to secure progress from Wednesday's Coppa Italia quarter-final.


Trailing midway through the second half, it took a moment of magic from Khephren Thuram to avoid losing within 90 minutes, but Dusan Vlahovic and Kenan Yildiz then missed penalties in a 5-3 shootout defeat.


Beaten at home by an injury-hit team that had lost six of their last seven league matches, Juve's cup defence ended in sorry fashion, so they have been left with no chance of claiming silverware this season. Instead, clinging on to a top-four spot must be the target, amid much speculation about Thiago Motta's position.


For all their woes, the Bianconeri are on track to book a Champions League return for next term, following four consecutive league wins throughout February.


Last time out in Serie A, Vlahovic scored 12 minutes into his first league start of 2025 to secure victory in Cagliari, as Juventus tightened their grip on fourth place. However, events in midweek soon soured the mood.


As Juve have never lost a top-flight game against Verona in Turin - with a remarkable record of 28 wins and five draws from 33 previous meetings - another setback could prove fatal for Motta.


Either home or away, Verona have lost five of their last six matches against Juventus, failing to even score on five occasions - including a 3-0 beating in this season's reverse fixture.


In fact, the last Gialloblu player to score at the Allianz Stadium was Andrea Favilli, back in October 2020; none of their current squad has ever netted a league goal versus Juve.


The weight of history may be against them, but Paolo Zanetti's side will be buoyed by last week's win over European hopefuls Fiorentina, in which Antoine Bernede produced a precious stoppage-time decider.


Hellas had scored only twice in seven Serie A matches beforehand, recording just one win in the process, but that three-point haul gave a big boost to their chances of survival.


Though they last won back-to-back league games almost one year ago, Verona have actually come out on top in three of their last six away fixtures - as many as throughout the previous 25. So, they may still dream of beating beleaguered Juve.



Juventus possible starting lineup:

Di Gregorio; Weah, Gatti, Kelly, Cambiaso; Thuram, Locatelli; Conceicao, McKennie, Yildiz; Kolo Muani


Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:

Montipo; Dawidowicz, Coppola, Valentini; Tchatchoua, Niasse, Bernede, Duda, Bradaric; Suslov; Sarr

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