Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Torino

The last few days have been rather interesting for Juventus. And that’s on top of this team having the season that they’re having, with the mere fact that Champions League football isn’t a certainty as play resumes following the last international break of the campaign something that wasn’t being entertained back in September and October.

All of that nonsense, all of that distraction and all of that chatter that had nothing to do with the game that Juventus is about to play, yet it sent the Italian media into a frenzy well before Juventus even had more than the full squad back in Turin from international duty.

Now, after 48 hours of said frenzy, it’s time to play a game.

A very big game — and especially so considering the current circumstances.

Juventus was already wobbling even before any of the drama that happened earlier in the week. Now, a shorthanded team is even more shorthanded entering a Derby della Mole where their opponents are currently fighting for their Serie A lives and are barely above the relegation zone. This game, on the night before Easter, comes at quite the tenuous time for Juventus with both the entire roster as well as the man who is writing out the starting lineup each weekend under quite the amount of pressure at the moment.

This is a game that can either relieve some of said pressure.

Or it can only add to it.

The only thing that will determine which way things go is how Juve play and what the end result of this first game in April The way they ended March was rough, and the fact that we’ve been sitting on that result for two weeks now didn’t need anything to add fuel to the fire at the club. Yet, there has been, and now the only way to help fan the flames is to get something done on the field itself.

Hopefully this is the Saturday that is actually a good and enjoyable one because things aren’t great right now. And because of that, I can’t help but think about this tweet a lot over the last few hours:

This isn’t just another Derby della Mole. Not under these circumstances and everything that has been going on the last few months and the 2020-21 season overall. Juventus need the win. Andrea Pirlo needs the win. Hell, even Torino needs the win even thouhg we don’t want them to win (or get any points at all). It’s important for the present as well as the future.

MATCH INFO

When: Saturday, April 3, 2021

Where: Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, Turin, 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 (4-4-2/3-5-2): Szczesny; Cuadrado, De Ligt, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Kulusevski, Bentancur, Danilo, Chiesa; Morata, Ronaldo

Juventus bench: Pinsoglio, Israel, Di Pardo, Dragusin, Frabotta, De Marino, Ramsey, Rabiot, Bernardeschi, Fagioli, Felix Correia

Torino starting XI (3-4-1-2): Sirigu; Izzo, Buongiorno, Bremer; Vojvoda, Rincon, Mandragora, Ansaldi; Verdi; Sanabria, Belotti

HOW TO WATCH

Television: TLN (Canada); Premier Sports 2 (United Kingdom)

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