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An actual game! An actual game where 11 Juventus players will be playing another team that will also be fielding 11 players, this time in the form of Melbourne Victory. We can put aside all of the fantacalcio, rosterbation, everything. This is time to actually watch Juventus, albeit a shorthanded version of the five-time Italian champions, in action for the first time since the middle of May.
Juventus opens up its brief stay in the International Champions Cup in Melbourne this afternoon against the aforementioned Melbourne Victory. We get to see Max Allegri screaming on the sideline once more. We get to see Paulo Dybala do Paulo Dybala things for the first time in weeks. Miralem Pjanic, Juventus' big buy this summer, will make his first appearance in the new adidas kit that we saw so briefly at the end of last season.
What a good time this could be. Juventus' season is getting closer and closer, with a game against an actual opponent nearly upon us.
I mean, seriously, it's game day. We haven't had a Juventus game day in a good amount of weeks. I like game days when Juventus plays. And, by the looks of it, the Juventus social media team like Juventus game days just as much as we do.
Wow! Evening, @MCG. Great to be here! #ICCVICJUV #ICCMelb #ICC2016 #JuveOnTour pic.twitter.com/pXHfq04lK4
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) July 23, 2016
Ah, it's so nice to have an actual game to talk about again. What a wonderful, wonderful day no matter what that final score may be. (Although if Juventus wins the game, that would be cool, too.)
Juventus vs. Melbourne Victory
Location: Melbourne Cricket Ground aka "MCG," Melbourne, Australia
Kick-off time: 5 p.m. in Australia, 11 a.m. in Italy, 5 a.m. on the East Coast, 2 a.m. on the West Coast
Available TV: ESPN2, ESPN Deportes (United States); TSN1 (Canada); PremiumSport 2 HD (Italy); Sky Sports 1/HD UK (United Kingdom); Nine Network (Australia)
Available online streaming: ESPN3/WatchESPN (United States); Sky Go UK, SKY GO Extra (United Kingdom)
For listings in other countries, check out LiveSoccerTV.com.