Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Frosinone

Going from a Champions League opener where Cristiano Ronaldo is playing his first European game as a Juventus player to a weekend trip to Frosinone isn’t exactly a smooth transition from one big game to another. It is not just the fact that Juventus are the seven-time defending Serie A champions and Frosinone are a newly-promoted side that are sitting at the bottom of the league table with all of one point to its name this season.

Here’s something else that just shows you the gap between the two clubs:

• Cristiano Ronaldo 2018-19 salary: €31 million after taxes.
• Frosinone total 2018-19 payroll: €11 million net.

That’s ... a lot.

Juventus heading to Frosinone is one of those classic games where you’re going in with the mindset of simply hoping that Juve don’t screw up. Sure, a blowout win that is over with around the 60th minute would be nice as hell, but simply avoiding dropping points should be the main objective going into this one — just like it is with every provincial club.

Of course, that’s easier said than done.

Juventus’ form in league play this season has been, well, not all that impressive. There have been flashes, but I think it’s safe to say that they haven’t had that complete game where they’ve kicked things into third or fourth gear and really taken absolute control of the game. The ironic thing is that kind of impressive team performance came midweek ... in the Champions League ... with 10 men ... and one of them wasn’t Ronaldo.

The good thing, though? We don’t have to talk about Ronaldo not having any goals or anything like that, really. The most important thing going into the trip to Frosinone is Juventus continue to win to begin the season and, maybe just maybe, playing a pretty good game along the way.

One can only hope.

MATCH INFO

When: Sunday, Sept. 22, 2018

Where: Stadio Benito Stirpe, Frosinone, Italy

Official kickoff time: 8:30 p.m. local time in Italy and across Europe; 7:30 p.m. in the United Kingdom; 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time; 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time

STARTING LINEUPS

Juventus starting XI: Szczesny; Cuadrado, Rugani, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Emre Can, Pjanic, Bentancur; Dybala; Mandzukic, Ronaldo

Juventus bench: Perin, Pinsoglio, Benatia, Bonucci, Cancelo, Matuidi, Bernardeschi, Kean

Frosinone starting XI (3-5-2): Sportiello; Goldaniga, Salamon, Capuano; Zampano, Chibsah, Maiello, Hallfredsson, Molinaro; Campbell, Perica

HOW TO WATCH

Television: RAI Italia America (United States); RAI Italia America, DLN (Canada); Eleven Sports 2 UK (United Kingdom); Sky Calcio 1, Sky Supercalcio HD, Sky Sport Serie A (Italy)

Online/mobile: ESPN+ (United States); DAZN (Canada); Sky Go Italia (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.

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