For the last two years, Juventus’ summer preseason tour hasn’t taken them all that far. It’s been a quick trip over to Germany and adidas headquarters, with all of the videos of players riding bikes to and from training around the company’s Herzogenaurach campus to follow. It doesn’t look as though that is in the plans for 2026.
What is?
A much, much longer trip in terms of mileage.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport over the weekend, Juventus will be heading to Hong Kong and Australia as the main
portion of their preseason preparations this coming summer. It is a part of the world that Juventus haven’t visited in a decade when the club was enjoying a whole lot more success than they are now, with Gazzetta saying that three games will be on the schedule — one in Hong Kong and then two in Perth. Not all of Juventus’ preseason tour opponents are known just yet, but Gazzetta has said that one is already known: Inter Milan.
Juve’s other opponent while in Australia is also expected to be Italian.
The last time Juventus were in Australia, the likes of Paulo Dybala and Medhi Benatia were scoring goals against Tottenham Hotspur as then-manager Max Allegri looked on from the sidelines. It was a much different time in the club’s history, with the Bianconeri in the middle of their nine-year run of dominance in Serie A.
The manager who is coaching Juventus during their next trip to Australia is expected to be Luciano Spalletti, who is reportedly closing in on signing a contract extension for the 2026-27 season with an option for another year. What Juve’s roster looks like will be a major point of content considering the current uncertainty of actually qualifying for the Champions League next season. It could very well be a Juve squad that is playing in the Europa League as they head to Hong Kong and Australia.
It will also be another summer that is not as straightforward as one might hope with a manager who will be entering his first full season in Turin having to deal with a truncated sort of schedule. Due to the World Cup and national team requirements, Spalletti will likely open preseason camp at Continassa without a number of his players, and those players will be showing up at different points following the end of their respective country’s runs at the summer tournament. It also means that some of Juve’s most important players will also not have much of a summer break — which, coming off the last few years and how the lack of actual rest has been ever-present, is not exactly what you want to hear.
But it’s like Juventus are heading back to Asia and Oceana for the first time in a decade. At least we get to see what Spalletti will have in store when it comes to casual preseason fashion during the friendlies his team will play ahead of the start of the 2026-27 season.
