After opening their 2026-27 season with a win last weekend at Frosinone, Juventus’ return to the Allianz Stadium was looked at as another step in what would hopefully be a winning start to the new campaign. After a summer in which the mercato has been slow to develop thanks to the World Cup and deals for main targets — namely in goal — never materializing, the return to on-field action was appreciated, and a win last Sunday was a decent change compared to when Juve last faced Serie A competition.
Then we heard about Kenan Yildiz’s foot and the time he will miss as a result of it.
So now, rather than it being the kind of theme that goes something like “Juventus return home to try and make it two straight wins to begin the season,” we’re shifting to a narrative that’s “Juventus play first game without their young star Yildiz in their home opener.”
Fun, ain’t it?
Saturday night is very much Juventus’ first home fixture of the season, but it’s also their first game for a good amount of time without their 21-year-old budding star who wears the No. 10 on his back. So as much as this matchup with Parma is just one game, it’s also the first game in which they’re starting to learn what they can do without their star man on the left wing. With other injuries as well, there’s now decisions to be made by Juve manager Luciano Spalletti, and that means the potential for possible lineup combinations that both give us a little excitement but also a whole lot of frustration over what it could be.
“We’ll stick to the same approach to the game, and it will be crucial to find balance during the match,” Spalletti said on Friday when asked about the expected lineup changes in Yildiz’s absence. “We need to be careful, maintain balance but at the same time play attacking football. We did well against Frosinone, even if we should have sealed the win sooner. I’d be very happy if we could play like that against Parma, too.”
There were some good things to take out of last weekend’s season opener against Frosinone. How many of those things remained good as the game went on are probably up to the person who is making those decisions. Now it’s about taking those good things and building on them — with or without Yildiz. And for the next few months, it will be without Yildiz because we just can’t have many nice things when it comes to the 2026 version of Juventus.
They may not be facing a newly-promoted side like they did last weekend, but they will be hosting a club that wasn’t too far off the relegation zone last season. And one that hasn’t exactly caught fire to start the new campaign.
Parma’s season has started with a win in the Coppa Italia over Serie B side Catania and then dropping their Serie A opener against Cagliari when they recorded all of two shots on goal against an opponent who had one of the worst defenses in the league last year. They’ve obviously seen two of their best players — goalkeeper Zion Suzuki (Aston Villa) and striker Mateo Pellegrino (Fiorentina) — leave the club in the last couple of weeks. The lineup that manager Carlos Cuesta — who is still just 31 years old! — rolled out there against Cagliari was very much reflective of that, as was their performance that probably left a lot to be desired.
But don’t consider Spalletti somebody who is falling for a not-so-impressive start to the season for Parma.
“We don’t play against this or that opponent, we play every match as Juventus,” he said. “We need to get into the opposition’s half, because that’s our territory to conquer. We need to get deep and beyond the defensive line. Parma always find a way.”
Throw into the fact that Juventus have the third-most wins over Parma out of anybody to ever play in Italy and this is very much another case of Spalletti’s squad being the overwhelming favorite against a provincial side.
That was the case against Frosinone last weekend and it’s the case now this Saturday night. Juventus need to start figuring out how they can handle life without Yildiz for the next few months, and Parma coming to Turin is the first instance of just that. Now all there’s left is to see what happens.
TEAM NEWS
- Kenan Yildiz is out “a few months,” according to Juve director Giorgio Chiellini. We don’t know when he will be undergoing surgery, but hopefully it’s soon and he can begin the journey back to full health as soon as possible.
- Also out for the home opener against Parma: Weston McKennie, who is dealing with some muscle fatigue, according to Luciano Spalletti at his pre-match press conference.
- Spalletti said that Khephren Thuram is a doubt to face Parma and that he is “concerned” about the French midfielder’s fitness with another potential setback. “He’s at Juventus’ level, and the fact that he has to take a step back worries me,” Spalletti said of Thuram, who didn’t appear in any of Juve’s preseason friendlies.
- After coming off with cramps in last weekend’s season-opening win, Juve goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is expected to start against Parma. Spalletti said that the recent signee from Tottenham was in no risk of missing time despite initial fears after he came off and was replaced by Mattia Perin, who has since signed with Palermo in Serie B this week.
- Federico Gatti and Jeff Ekhator both returned to full training with the group on Wednesday, paving the way for the Italian duo to be position for call-ups to face Parma in Saturday night’s home opener.
- In case you were wondering about Spalletti’s view on Randal Kolo Muani, he had this to say about the French striker during his pre-match press conference: “We have complete faith in Kolo Muani’s quality.” So much for the thought process that Spalletti suddenly doesn’t like Kolo Muani or anything along those lines.
- Summer signing Jhon Lucumí could be in line for his first Juventus start this weekend, but Spalletti was quick to point out that Lloyd Kelly “did very well against Frosinone, so we’re in no rush.”
JUVENTUS PLAYER TO WATCH
It was only a few weeks ago that we were wondering how, once the dust had settled of a frantic month of August, a certain Kenan Yildiz and Kerim Alajbegović would be able to mesh as new teammates and be the playmakers for Juventus’ attack.
Now, though, things are a little different.
Yildiz, as we know, will be out until the the final days of October at the earliest. That means, rather than combining with Yildiz in attack, Alajbegović is now being thought of as the one to take Yildiz’s place for the time being.
The catch is that not all of the predicted lineups think that Alajbegović will actually start against Parma. So, in a way, this is maybe a bit of a stretch when it comes to him playing from the opening whistle, but with Yildiz out he’s now becoming one of the players you want to see in attack for Juventus right now.
After his DNP-CD against Frosinone in the season opener last weekend, we don’t know if Spalletti is slow-playing Alajbegović‘s introduction into the starting lineup and the squad as a whole. Like I said, he could be a starter against Parma, or he could be the first option off the bench for Spalletti if he needs a change in attack.
Either way, this certainly feels like the game in which Alajbegović makes his official Juventus debut. I hope it is. I would like to see, outside of maybe a two-minute Hail Mary in which Juve need a goal in the 86th minute to win it, what Alajbegović can do in his debut and some time to both settle into the game and shake off his likely nerves at the same time.
Just look at what Spalletti said about the young Bosnian during his pre-match press conference:
“Alajbegović is a 19-year-old, he’s got quality and is raring to show off his full potential. He’s been welcomed into the squad and I’m convinced he’ll showcase his skills. He’s got class, a good touch, and when he shoots at goal, he unleashes thunderbolts with both feet.”
That sounds like the kind of thing you would say before you’re about to unleash one of your big summer signings and hope that he can fulfill that kind of promise. If that is the case this weekend, then let us see what Kerim has in store for us all because I, for one, am very much looking forward to it.
MATCH INFO
When: Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026.
Where: Allianz Stadium, Turin, 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, 1:45 p.m. Central time, 11:45 a.m. Pacific time.
HOW TO WATCH
Television: Telemundo (United States); TLN (Canada).
Online/Streaming: Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network, fuboTV, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (United States); DAZN Canada; fuboTV Canada (Canada); DAZN UK (United Kingdom); DAZN 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 Bluesky. If you haven’t already, join the community on Black & White & Read All Over, and join in the discussion below.
