Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Benevento

It’s been a few years since Juventus has faced a team managed by Pippo Inzaghi. It has more to do with the fact that Super Pippo himself, quite the goal scorer in his day, has been trying to get his managerial career back on track after a couple of disappointing runs at Milan and then Bologna. And, for the most part, Benevento has proven to be the tonic to a coaching career that might have been looked at as a struggle.

And it just so happens that Inzaghi will be giving a pre-game hug — or maybe bump of the fist since we’re in the whole age of COVID-19 and all — to a guy who served up a couple of assists to him during their career together in Milan.

This evening at the Ciro Vigorito will be the first time that Inzaghi and Andrea Pirlo will face one another as managers when Juventus faces Benevento. Even though it is a meeting of old friends who have had a lot of success and won a lot of trophies together for both club and country, is a game of two teams on very different ends of the table through the first two months of the 2020-21 season — and, for Inzaghi’s Benevento, that’s not exactly a good thing.

Juventus is getting closer to being within striking distance of first-place Milan. Benevento, on the other hand, enters this weekend with one of the worst defenses in Serie A to go along with one of the worst records in the league. That means a probably predictable relegation battle has already begun for Inzaghi and Benevento. And that is important for Juventus because it means that there shouldn’t be any kind of messing around in a game that they can’t afford to drop points in.

We’ve seen them drop points against a newly-promoted side before this season.

We’ve also seen them get all three points with a solid win against a newly-promoted side this season.

I know which one all of us would prefer — and it’s not the one that will leave us wanting to get our weekend bender going a couple of hours early because Juventus just made us all kinds of grumpy.

So hopefully Good Juventus shows up, and the post-Champions League hangover is left for all of us watching rather than those who are actually stepping onto the field today.

MATCH INFO

When: Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020

Where: Municipal Stadium Ciro Vigorito, Benevento, Italy

Official kickoff time: 6 p.m. local time in Italy and across Europe; 5 p.m. in the United Kingdom; 12 p.m. Eastern Time; 9 a.m. Pacific Time

STARTING LINEUPS

Juventus starting XI (3-4-1-2/4-4-2): Szczesny; Cuadrado, de Ligt, Danilo, Frabotta; Chiesa, Arthur, Rabiot, Ramsey; Morata, Dybala

Juventus bench: Pinsoglio, Garofani, Alex Sandro, McKennie, Bonucci, Bentancur, Bernardeschi, Dragusin, Portanova, Kulusevski

Benevento starting XI (4-3-3): Montipò; Letizia, Glik, Caldirola, Barba; Hetemaj, Schiattarella, Improta; Ionita, Caprari, Lapadula

Benevento bench: Manfredini, Lucatelli, Abdallah, Andres Tello, Maggio, Tuia, R insigne, Di Serio, Moncini, Sau, Masella, Pastina

HOW TO WATCH

Television: TLN (Canada); FreeSports TV UK (United Kingdom); Sky Sport Serie A, Sky Sport 251 (Italy)

Online/mobile: ESPN+ (United States); DAZN (Canada); LivSoccer App (United Kingdom); 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.