Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Bologna

Andrea Pirlo said the following during his pre-match press conference on Saturday:

“After the Milan game we were ‘dead,” now we are still alive. Let’s think about ourselves first, and then see what happens elsewhere. We mustn’t have any regrets. There is always pressure, but we are calm and there is enthusiasm.”

Yes, Juventus’ Champions League hopes are not dead. And since we thought it was all over, they’ve gone on and won a couple of games, including the Coppa Italia final a few days ago against previously red-hot Atalanta. But the fact still remains, Juventus enter tonight’s 2020-21 season finale against Bologna at the Renato Dall’Ara needing:

• To win and only win
• To see either Napoli or AC Milan drop not win.

Seems simple enough, right?

Well, on paper, yes.

In actuality ... we’ll see.

We know the first step in the process is to see Juventus beat a Bologna side that is struggling in the final two months of the season. All three games that we care about today will be happening at the same time, so that will cause some serious scoreboard watching to take place. But the biggest thing is for Juventus to beat Bologna and then hope that either Hellas Verona (playing Napoli) or Atalanta (playing Milan) come through with some last-minute help and allow the Bianconeri to jump back into the top four.

It’s a doable task, but only with a win and some help.

This is what happens when you drop way too many points against teams you shouldn’t be dropping points against. These things add up, and because of it we’re sitting here on the final day of the season and hoping that all of the dominos fall in Juve’s favor rather than going into the offseason knowing that there’s about to be even more roster reconstruction because the Europa League is on the horizon and the club has to sell a whole lot of people because of it.

The next few hours will not be easy, so feel free to grab the antacids. Maybe have a beer or two to relax if you think that will help. But your blood pressure is bound to be pretty high for multiple reasons — and we have Juventus to blame win or loss, Champions League or Europa League.

Good times, right? (Don’t answer that just yet.)

MATCH INFO

When: Sunday, May 23, 2021

Where: Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, Bologna, 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? 4-2-3-1?): Szczesny; Cuadrado, de Ligt, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Danilo, Rabiot; Chiesa, Dybala, Kulusevski; Morata

Juventus bench: Buffon, Pinsoglio, Bonucci, Demiral, Frabotta, Arthur, McKennie, Bernardeschi, Fagioli, Ronaldo, Correia

Bologna starting XI (4-2-3-1): Skorupski; Tomiyasu, Soumaoro, Medel, De Silvestri; Schouten, Svanberg; Skov Olsen, Vignato, Barrow; Palacio

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.