Coppa Italia Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Sampdoria

As is customary for the middle of January the last few years, Juventus’ participation in the Coppa Italia is finally here. It’s an odd time of the season to jump into the game, but that’s just what happens when you are one of the top eight seeds in the tournament and you don’t have to trudge through the first few rounds against lower-tier opposition.

Juventus, fresh off its 2-0 win over Udinese over the weekend, enters the fray when Sampdoria and all of the drama surrounding their managerial situation comes to Turin for the Coppa Italia Round of 16. Juventus, despite all of its absences — and there are a good number of the them, including manager Max Allegri — begins its Coppa Italia defense against an opponent that has struggled for much of the 2021-22 season and especially of late, with managerial drama in recent days highlighting just how tough of a year it’s been.

For Juve, though, there’s the chance to both rotate some of the squad and get some players who haven’t appeared much this season some game time while also trying to begin things on a positive note when it comes to the most achievable trophy that is still out there to win.

That’s all that needs to be said, really. Just win, Juventus. This is not the time to mess around and do something silly in the Coppa Italia — especially with how a lot of this season has already gone.

MATCH INFO

When: Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022.

When: Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy.

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

STARTING LINEUP

Juventus starting XI (4-4-2? 4-3-3?): Perin; De Sciglio, Danilo, Rugani, Alex Sandro; Cuadrado, Arthur, Locatelli, Rabiot; Kulusevski; Morata.

Juventus bench: Szczesny, Pinsoglio, Chiellini, Dybala, McKennie, Pellegrini, Kaio Jorge, Bentancur, Aké, De Winter, Soulé, Miretti.

Sampdoria starting XI (4-4-2): Falcone; Conti, Magnani, Augello, Murru; Thorsby, Askildsen, Rincon, Bereszynski; Torregrossa, Caputo.

HOW TO WATCH

Television: Premier Sports 2 (United Kingdom); Canale 5 (Italy).

Online/mobile: Paramount+ (United States); fuboTV (Canada); Premier Player HD (United Kingdom); Mediaset Infinity (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.