Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Cagliari

If it’s squad rotation you guys wanted, then it is squad rotation you guys are likely going to get in Juventus’ annual trip to Sardinia. (Which, as compared to last season, should be a whole lot better than it has been since some of their idiotic supporters won’t be in the empty stadium.)

I say squad rotation will happen because of the 22 players that Maurizio Sarri has called up for tonight’s game against Cagliari are from Juventus’ Under-23 squad. That’s eight total — which, even with all the injuries we’ve seen over the course of the Serie A restart, is by far the largest amount of Under-23 team players that have been called up for a single game. And what that means is the fact that regulars like Matthijs de Ligt and a few others who have been playing heavy minutes over the last seven weeks get what they deserve.

A little bit of rest.

And hopefully recharge their batteries for this weekend’s season finale against Roma and what lies beyond that in the month of August. (Hopefully, more than one game after Roma comes over to visit Juve in Turin, ya know?)

So, fret not, worriers of squad rotation.

It is going to happen.

We’re not totally sure just how much squad rotation in terms of those names from the Under-23 team appearing in the starting lineup — remember, there was no pre-match press conference from Sarri before the Cagliari game — but we know some things will look a whole lot different than they did when Juve clinched their ninth Scudetto in a row this past weekend against Sampdoria.

That’s what Sarri is able to do now that the title race is over. Hopefully it pays off — which, over the course of this weird and winding 2019-20 season we’ve been on, would be a nice change from the complete unpredictability that has played out. (Other than Juventus winning the Serie A title, of course. Don’t forget that part.)

MATCH INFO

When: Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Where: Sardegna Arena, Cagliari, Italy

Official kickoff time: 9:45 p.m. local time in Italy and across Europe; 8:45 p.m. in the United Kingdom; 3:45 p.m. Eastern Time; 12:45 p.m. Pacific Time

STARTING LINEUP

Juventus starting XI (4-3-3): Buffon; Cuadrado, Rugani, Bonucci, Alex Sandro; Bentancur, Pjanic, Muratore; Bernardeschi, Higuain, Ronaldo

Juventus bench: Szczesny, Pinsoglio, Demiral, Coccolo, Wesley, Frabotta, Matuidi, Peeters, Olivieri, Vrioni, Zanimacchia

Cagliari starting XI (3-4-1-2): Cragno; Walukiewicz, Ceppitelli, Klavan; Faragò, Ionita, Rog, Mattiello; Joao Pedro; Simeone, Gagliano

HOW TO WATCH

Television: RAI Italia North America (United States); RAI Italia North America, TLN (Canada); Premier Player 1 (United Kingdom)

Online/mobile: ESPN+ (United States); DAZN (Canada); Premier Player HD (United Kingdom); DAZN, DAZN1 (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.