Game Time Thread: Juventus vs, AC Milan

Juventus has made the trip to Milan, which means that their final round of COVID-19 testing as a result of the Alex Sandro and Juan Cuadrado positive tests hasn’t turned up any more bad news. This is good, and it means the potential of any kind of outbreak at the club is just a little less likely to happen ... we hope.

That also means the attention is now fully on what this night means on the field.

Sure, this is a night where Andrea Pirlo making his return to the San Siro for the first time ever as a manager. But this is the biggest game of the season to date, one that will go a long way in determining whether the next few weeks are Juventus playing in complete desperation mode because they’re so far behind Milan in the standings or getting closer to Milan (with a game in hand) and reigniting the Scudetto race and making it a three-team battle once more.

(Also, how about that Inter-Sampdoria result earlier? Pretty cool, huh?)

Tonight is the chance for Juventus, a team that has been marked by inconsistency and frustrating results, to make a statement. We know they’re talented as hell and have stars all over the field. But, it’s not Juventus that has been the most consistent side in the league. It’s the team that they’re playing tonight. If Juventus were to jump right back into the Scudetto fray, it will be because they handed Milan their first loss of the 2020-21 season and slowed down what has been an incredibly impressive start to the season.

Juventus is certainly capable of it.

Even though they are shorthanded — and it’s not like Milan isn’t, either — it’s time for them to go out and show it just like they did when they rolled into the Camp Nou and beat Barcelona 3-0 a few weeks ago.

May this be a good Juventus night. I enjoy those.

MATCH INFO

When: Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021

Where: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy

Official kickoff time: 8:45 p.m. local time in Italy and across Europe; 7:45 p.m. in the United Kingdom; 2:45 p.m. Eastern Time; 11:45 a.m. Pacific Time

STARTING LINEUPS

Juventus starting XI (4-4-2/3-4-1-2): Szczesny; Danilo, de Ligt, Bonucci, Frabotta; Chiesa, Bentancur, Rabiot, Ramsey; Ronaldo, Dybala

Juventus bench: Buffon, Pinsoglio, Demiral, Chiellini, Arthur, McKennie, Di Pardo, Portanova, Fagioli, Kulusevski, Bernardeschi, Da Graca

AC Milan starting XI (4-2-3-1): G. Donnarumma; Dalot, Kjaer, Romagnoli, Theo Hernandez; Calabria, Kessie; Castillejo, Calhanoglu, Hauge, Leao

AC Milan bench: Tatarusanu, Conti, Duarte, Kalulu, Musacchio, Brahim Diaz, Frigerio, Colombo, Maldini

HOW TO WATCH

Television: ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, RAI Italia North America, TLN (United States); RAI Italia North America, TLN (Canada); Premier Sports 1 (United Kingdom); Sky Sport Uno, Sky Sport Serie A, Sky Sport 251 (Italy)

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