Juventus vs. Cremonese match preview: Time, TV schedule, and how to watch the Serie A

A lot of times this season, we have talked about the ruthlessness of Juventus’ schedule. The fact that one fixture after another has been an absolute gauntlet of sorts — most notably what felt like the entire month of April — is something that will be one of the lasting takeaways from the 2022-23 season that is reaching its finish line.

But here’s the thing about this weekend, folks.

Juventus are not facing a tricky mid-table side that they’ve dropped points to over the last season or two in between a big Europa League two-legged tie like they did last month.

No, no. This time in the weekend Serie A fixture sandwiched in between two big Europa League ties is a meeting with ... 19th-placed Cremonese, which is very, very close to being mathematically relegated to Serie B. It is very much the kind of matchup that should allow Max Allegri to rotate his squad heavily with the second leg against Sevilla in view, setting things up to make sure that his team can try and advance to the Europa League final next week.

On one hand, the second-place team facing the team that’s second from bottom is almost as lopsided of a matchup as it comes in Serie A this season.

On the other, you rewind your mind back four months to January — which seems a whole lot longer than just that long ago — and how the first meeting with Cremonese was far from something you would call a dominant effort.

Either way, they’re going to be wearing Juve’s new home kit, right?

Allegri was keen on pointing out that Cremonese is not in the same kind of form that they were when the two teams met back in January as games restarted again after the lengthy midseason World Cup break. “They would be out of the relegation zone considering the second half of the campaign,” Allegri said. Now while it’s true that Cremonese are very much fighting for their Serie A lives right now and have “improved” form-wise, but it’s not like they’ve suddenly shot up the table.

To add context to Allegri’s point about Cremonese being out of the relegation zone based on second-half results, they’re sitting ... 16th, all of a few points ahead of Lecce and Spezia, which thumped AC Milan 2-0 on Saturday. There was nowhere to go but for Cremonese, which didn’t didn’t record its first win of the season until the final day of February.

So, yeah. Cremonese has improved over the last three or so months. But it’s not like they’re suddenly playing consistent football. Well, unless you consider inconsistent results as something that’s consistent.

For Juventus, it’s simple: don’t let up now. With Lazio dropping points — again! — on Friday night against Lecce and Inter claiming a win over Sassuolo 24 hours later, Juve has company in second place. So now it’s about fending off Inter rather than trying to get some breathing room between second and Lazio in third. Things are tight between second and fifth, and the only way that Juve can prevent some on-field craziness from happening — we all know off the field is a completely different matter entirely — is to just keep on winning. (Or, at the very least, matching what those trying to catch up can do.)

But when it comes to facing a team like Cremonese that is on the brink of relegation, it’s both about picking up three points at home and also preventing some sort of late-season disaster from happening. The first meeting between the two teams was a total slog in January, but now Juventus have the whole “potential Europa League hangover” to deal with.

No matter how much squad rotation happens — and that probably depends on which Italian media outlet you prefer to read — the goal is still the same. This is, thankfully, a light spot in the schedule in which Allegri can rotate and still very much be the favorite to win.

The vibes seem to be good after Federico Gatti’s last-second equalizer against Sevilla just a few days ago. There’s no reason to suddenly screw it all up because you drop points to the second-worst team in the league.

TEAM NEWS

• Allegri said at his pre-match press conference that Bremer has recovered from the minor muscle injury that forced him to miss Thursday’s game against Sevilla.
• With Bremer back, that means Juve’s only injured players are Leonardo Bonucci, Mattia De Sciglio and Kaio Jorge.
• Allegri added that Adrien Rabiot won’t miss any time after being on the receiving end of a nasty tackle that wasn’t even called a foul against Sevilla.
• Mattia Perin will start in goal, per Allegri.
• Allegri described Moise Kean as being “in good shape” as the young Italian looks to be in line for his first start since coming back from injury a couple of weeks ago.
• Allegri said that Paul Pogba’s conditioning is improving and that “He knows he needs lots of games to get back to his best but the main thing is he’s available, even if it’s just for one half or 30 minutes.”
• Matias Soulé has headed off to the Under-20 World Cup and will miss the final three weeks of the club season due to national team duty with Argentina.

JUVENTUS PLAYER TO WATCH

There’s plenty of squad rotation expected with Allegri’s starting lineup against Cremonese. And one of the biggest benefactors of that will likely be the teenager who has certainly thrust himself some sort of spotlight over the last couple fo weeks because of how he’s played.

Photo by Daniele Badolato - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images

It’s Samuel Iling-Juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunior!

This is the chance, if Allegri gives it to him, for Iling-Junior to start his second game in as many weekends. That would be quite the positive development for the 19-year-old Englishman who has seen his small amount of minutes before last weekend in Bergamo come off the bench.

With Iling-Junior, he has thrust himself into the discussion of the most interesting young prospect that Juventus currently has on their roster with the way he has played this season. We know that few Juve players can come close to matching the kind of skillset he has — he’s got speed a plenty and has been showing more and more playmaking ability over the last couple of weeks.

It’s been quite enjoyable to see him take advantage of the sudden uptick in playing time and start to show what he’s all about. Because, as a young player trying to prove himself at this level, there’s nothing better than building on the chances that you get.

That’s something to look forward to both the rest of this season and into the summer and preseason. Iling-Junior chose to stay with Juventus rather than end his club season early and head off to the U-20 World Cup. There’s got to be a reason for that — and you have to think it does with playing time. (And not just because he’s going to be wearing Juve’s new home jersey.)

MATCH INFO

When: Sunday, May 14, 2023.

Where: Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy.

Official kickoff time: 8:45 p.m. local time in Italy and around Europe, 7:45 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 2:45 p.m. Eastern time, 11:45 a.m. Pacific time.

HOW TO WATCH

Television: TLN (Canada); BT Sport 1 (United Kingdom).

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