A lot happened at Juventus between May 15 and today, a week before Christmas. The squad that faced Atalanta in the Coppa Italia final in Rome last season has undergone drastic changes, and of course the man in charge of that squad now is different to the one that lifted the trophy in after an eventful night in the Italian capital lifted the height.

All of this means that the Coppa Italia is significantly back – and a little earlier than in previous years.

Largely thanks to the fact that the new league phase of the Champions League includes more games compared to the previous group phase, Juventus will now enter the Coppa Italia a month earlier than usual. This means that Juve will face a team they have already faced this season – although this result is not really something to boast about despite the lack of success that Cagliari had in the first half of the 2024-25 season.

However, there is a catch to all this: Cagliari happens to be one of the ten teams that Juventus have already drawn against this season. While these round of 16 encounters have historically favored Juventus, we have evidence to the contrary, with Thiago Motta’s side having already struggled to dislodge Cagliari this season.

This basically means that one of the extremely obvious themes of Tuesday night’s game in Turin is this: Will Juventus actually be able to beat a team they have already drawn against once this season?

It is the first time that we find Juve on such a pitch this season, as the Coppa Italia arrives a little earlier than usual in the schedule. And with Juventus having so many draws, we’ll probably say that once the Serie A season’s halfway point is over and the second half of the calendar begins.

Based on recent results, it is quite difficult to assess where Motta’s squad stands. In the past week we’ve seen Juventus fight to a draw against Motta’s former club Bologna and claim a big win against Manchester City in the Champions League – albeit with a City squad in its worst-ever phase of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career – and then a draw against bottom-placed Venezia.

It’s a completely mixed picture and feels like a microcosm of how things are going for Motta and Juventus this season. But they need to see this change if they want to avoid their Coppa Italia run ending right at the start. (Plus, it just feels weird to have that mindset against a team like Cagliari, which currently sits in the Serie A relegation zone and has only won once since October 25th.)

If Juventus wants to get past Cagliari, it will face Empoli in the quarter-finals after the Tuscan side beat Fiorentina on penalties in Florence two weeks ago.

What you should pay attention to

Early Coppa Italia games are the best bet for squad rotation, but will Motta actually be able to rotate?

With several players returning from injury but unlikely to be able to play anywhere near the full 90 minutes, this is the balancing act the Juventus coach must attempt.

There are players who desperately need a break, but given the current injury list and the fact that those who have just returned from injury don’t have many minutes in their legs, it’s a strange middle ground.

Juve coach Thiago Motta didn’t hold a pre-match press conference on Monday, so we’re not entirely sure where he stands with the squad rotation. We know how much he would like to rotate his squad regularly – just look at what he did at Bologna last year and at the start of this season before the injury crisis to prove that – but that just hasn’t been the case in the last one Month possible because so many players are unavailable.

In addition to the three long-term absentees, Motta is expected to be without Andrea Cambiaso, Jonas Rouhi and Douglas Luiz, according to a report from Romeo Agresti on Monday. This means there is no depth in defense and no one less body in midfield. (Although, as Agresti said, Douglas Luiz’s absence seems more planned than something that arose after the draw in Venezia.)

Unfortunately, the starting lineup will likely look much like it has in recent weeks. This is just the byproduct of so many injuries and so many games in such a short period of time.

Can Juventus avoid this time what happened last time against Cagliari?

Not just the fact that it was a draw. But also the simple fact that you don’t send away one of the worst teams in Serie A when you have the chance and then they come back and equalize.

It’s the same situation that we’re seeing more and more with this team against the provincial teams in Serie A. And we have the most recent example from a few days ago against Venezia when Juventus couldn’t score a second goal. The visitors then took a 2-1 lead, but Dusan Vlahovic scored the game-winning penalty shortly before the final whistle.

At this point, it feels like Juve have drawn teams in every way possible. That’s exactly what happens when you have 10 draws in your first 16 league games. Now, as Juve face a team they are expected to beat and reach the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia, the fact that they already drew against Cagliari once is still very fresh in the minds of many.

This is especially true considering the many draws that have taken place in the last two months.

Can a likely weary defense remain steadfast enough?

Juventus are expected to have only four defenders available for another game – Federico Gatti, Pierre Kalulu, Danilo and Nicolo Savona. Although we didn’t get any squad update from Motta on Monday, we can pretty much assume that those who missed out against Venezia will also be out against Cagliari, with Cambiaso and Rouhi being the two short-term absences.

This is the same quartet that started against Manchester City. It’s the same quartet that started against Venezia. Add it all up and this group will likely be asked to play another 90 minutes in less than a week – and a total of over 270 when all is said and done.

It’s fair to say that Juventus’ defense had a lot more to do against City than against Venezia. But it’s also true that Juve’s defense allowed one of Serie A’s lowest-scoring teams to get back into the game and take the lead shortly afterwards. Now, in a very short span of just 72 hours after the draw against Venezia, we will find out just how exhausted those legs are.

In a perfect world, Motta could recover and someone like Kalulu or Gatti (or – gasp! – even both) could get the night off. But with the injury situation at Juventus being what it is, with the two season-ending knee injuries affecting Gleison Bremer and Juan Cabal, Juve’s sudden lack of depth in defense means that some players are seeing more minutes than her manager would certainly do like that.

GAME INFO

When: Tuesday, December 17, 2024.

Where: Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy.

Official kick-off time: 9:00 p.m. in Italy and Central European Time Zones, 8:00 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

HOW TO WATCH

TV: TLN (Canada); Canal 5 (Italy).

Online/Streaming: Paramount+ (United States); fuboTV Canada (Canada); OneFootball.com (UK); Mediaset Infinity (Italy).

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