Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. AC Milan

Here we are. The final game of January 2022.

It was always going to be a big game because January 2022 seems to deliver those at every turn of the daily calendar. But with this game, a trip to the San Siro to face AC Milan tonight, Juventus has the chance to do something we haven’t seen all season — get into fourth place.

Thanks to Atalanta’s draw Saturday night against Lazio and Le Dea having a game in hand due to a COVID postponement at the beginning of the month, Juventus can jump from fifth place to fourth place with a win over Milan. It’s no easy task, especially with Milan playing for its own respective aspirations with full knowledge that Inter Milan got a last-minute win over Venezia earlier in the weekend Saturday. But when it comes to what could go down at the San Siro, there is plenty of narrative to go around.

Nice little way to wrap up the first month of 2022.

Hopefully.

Man ... hopefully, hopefully, hopefully.

Juventus is full aware that a win can get them in a good position going into the international break. It’s been an absolute grind to get within striking distance in fifth place, and with the chance to now jump over Atalanta — yeah, sure, game in hand and all — is something that can’t be wasted. There will likely be other chances to do so if things don’t get well against Milan, but getting the upper hand right away rather than wasting a good opportunity regardless of the opposition has to be something that you know Max Allegri has talked about with his players.

This is a chance, despite how good Milan has been this season, to get over one last hump.

There’s still plenty of time to play this season, Allegri knows that as well, but sitting in fourth place to end January is a nice way to cap the month.

Juventus’ last trip to the San Siro just a couple of weeks ago proved to be a letdown despite a severally shorthanded Juve squad nearly beating the Serie A leaders. Let’s just hope that this squad, now that it’s a decent amount healthier, this result can go a little bit better.

MATCH INFO

When: Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022.

When: 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? 4-2-3-1?): Szczesny; De Sciglio, Rugani, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Cuadrado, Bentancur, Locatelli, McKennie; Dybala, Morata.

Juventus bench: Perin, Pinsoglio, de Ligt, Danilo, Pellegrini, Arthur, Bernardeschi, Rabiot, Kulusevski, Kean, Kaio Jorge, Akè.

AC Milan starting XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Kalulu, Romagnoli, Theo Hernandez; Tonali, Krunic; Messias, Diaz, Leao; Ibrahimovic.

AC Milan bench: Tătăruşanu, Mirante, Bennacer, Giroud, Rebic, Florenzi, Maldini, Bakayoko, Gabbia, Saelemaekers, Stanga.

HOW TO WATCH

Television: BT Sport 3 (United Kingdom).

Online/mobile: Paramount+ (United States); fuboTV (Canada); BTSport.com, BT Sport app (United Kingdom); DAZN (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.