Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Crotone

I don’t need to remind you about what happened the last time Juventus played Crotone. I already spent the match preview doing that, and I’m sure I’m not the only one on the internet saying “Hey, remember when Juventus dropped points against the worst team in the league earlier this season? Yeah, that was great!” or something along those lines.

(You can thank me later for not bringing all of that back up.)

So here comes Crotone on the schedule again, this time catching Juventus at a time when the Italian champions are both wobbling because of the last two games they’ve played and the simple fact that they’ve got a whole bunch of players unavailable due to injury and suspension. That was the case the last time Juventus took the field, too, but it’s even more of the case now as they look an 11-point deficit in the Serie A table right in the face as we start the final work week of February.

That means Juve’s in must-win territory now more than ever before.

More than the first game of 2021.

More than after the loss to Inter in mid-January.

More than the first game of February.

The last two games have been bad for their own unique reasons. And the fact that Juventus now faces even more of an uphill battle to try and stay in the Scudetto race while also stay in the Champions League just feels very on brand for what this season has ended up being like. Hopefully this game, against the worst team in the league, goes a whole lot better than the last time Juventus and Crotone played one another because we really don’t need to see this season continue to go the way it has the last 180 minutes of game time.

Personally, I don’t feel like starting my week with another disappointing Juventus performance (and result). Or else things are probably going to look a little something like this in a couple of hours:

MATCH INFO

When: Monday, Feb. 22, 2021

Where: Allianz Stadium, Turin, 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 (3-5-2/4-4-2): Buffon; Demiral, de Ligt, Danilo; Chiesa, Ramsey, Bentancur, McKennie, Alex Sandro; Kulusevski, Ronaldo

Juventus bench: Szczesny, Pinsoglio, Dragusin, Frabotta, Bernardeschi, Di Pardo, Fagioli, Peeters, Morata

Crotone starting XI (4-4-2): Cordaz; Pedro Pereira, Magallan, Golemic, Luperto; Messias, Molina, Vulic, Reca; Ounas, Di Carmine

HOW TO WATCH

Television: TLN (Canada); Premier Sports 1 (United Kingdom); Sky Sport 251, Sky Sport Serie A (Italy)

Online/mobile: ESPN+ (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.