Following Juventus’ wins over Bologna and Roma last month, we knew that the schedule would ease up a bit. Out goes competitors for the top four and race for a European position, in would come the provincial sides lined up one by one for the better part of the next four weeks.
We’re in the final part of those four weeks of that favorable schedule now, with a massive three-game stretch domestically and in Europe on deck come the start of the new work week.
But first, there’s that one last fixture before
bigger ones arrive.
That fixture against another one of Serie A’s relegation battlers, Cagliari, takes Juventus to Sardinia this Saturday night for what could be a matchup that continues this really nice run of form Luciano Spalletti’s squad is currently on. With Napoli dropping points yet again earlier in the week, this time in a scoreless draw against Parma, Juve are just one point behind the reigning champions who now no longer have their game in hand. That means if the trends of the two squads continue, Juventus could very well be ahead of Napoli and in third place when Antonio Conte’s squad make their way to Turin next weekend for a massive showdown at the Allianz Stadium.
Before that, though — and before Juve can switch their focus to the return of the Champions League on Wednesday night — there’s the matter of taking care of business against the club that is currently sitting in 16th place in the Serie A standings.
It’s that 16th-place standing that very much represents Cagliari’s form for much of this season. I say that because on top of suffering a 2-1 defeat to Juventus back on Nov. 29, they have won all of two games in all competitions since late September — a stretch of 17 games that has seen them tumble down the standings after their bright start to the 2025-26 season.
You see that form and then the form that Juve are currently in the midst of and you think that another three points are in the bag as long as Spalletti’s squad keep on playing like they have been playing. And that is very much probably the case. But it’s also something that we probably thought when Juventus faced Lecce a couple of weeks ago … and we all know how that one turned out.
So, as easy as it is to look ahead to what’s on the schedule come next week (and the next 10 days), count Spalletti as somebody who isn’t going to be falling into that trap. We know that because he said so during his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“”For us right now, the only game we’re thinking about is the one away to Cagliari,“ the Tuscan tactician said. ”Of course, there are plans beyond this weekend’s game, but we’re only thinking about what’s next. … We’re focusing on one game at a time, studying each one with depth but without overfilling the players’ heads.”
Sure, there is some coaching cliché talk there, but it’s also pretty true — especially when you consider the very real possibility that Juventus might actually end the weekend in third place. That is because Napoli are struggling with three straight draws to their name and just two wins in their last six games. The pressure is very much on them to try and turn things around in some sort of way before they have their own return to the Champions League and then make the trip to Turin next weekend.
Pressure on Juventus? Not really. They certainly aren’t playing like it at the moment. They are looking some kind of opposite to that, with this run of provincial clubs on the schedule really being the thing that has allowed Spalletti to build some momentum and get his new squad on a nice run of results. (Yes, even with the incredibly frustrating draw against Lecce thrown in there as well.)
This is Juventus’ chance to either jump over or pull even with Napoli this weekend … or just put themselves in a position to do the same thing next weekend. An improved run of form has allowed Juventus to be able to say that. Now it’s all about simply taking care of business one more time against a relegation battler before much bigger fixtures arrive.
And how things are going right now, you probably have a pretty good feeling that can happen exactly as you hope.
TEAM NEWS
- Kenan Yildiz missed training on Thursday due to a mild case of the flu.
- Better news to come out of Continassa on Thursday: Both Federico Gatti and Francisco Conceição returned to training with the group after missing time due to their respective injuries. Gatti has been out since early December due to meniscus surgery.
- With Gatti and Conceição back in the fold, that means the only three Juventus players out injured are Dusan Vlahovic, Daniele Rugani and, of course, Arek Milik.
- How did Spalletti describe Manuel Locatelli’s impact on this team right now? “He’s a perfect player for providing balance,” he said. Pretty good compliment, that.
JUVENTUS PLAYER TO WATCH
Kenan Yildiz has been battling some flu symptoms the last couple of days, so it’s not totally known just how close to 100% he will be this weekend. Chico Conceição is, again, just back from a minor-ish muscle injury and probably won’t be able to handle a heavy workload. Edon Zhegrova is still on a minutes limit as he has remained an option off the bench and just about only that.
So it only makes sense to talk about the one advanced player that is probably at full-steam-ahead mode at the moment.
Are we in the midst of Fabio Miretti’s best run of form since he broke into the senior squad at Juventus as a teenager a few years ago? Maybe! He is certainly playing quite well during his first extended period of playing time since returning from his loan spell at Genoa over the summer.
And you better believe that the memes are already starting known that Miretti now wears the same kit number of a certain former Juventus midfielder who accomplished a thing or two over his career.
No matter where you fall in the discourse, Miretti has been a somewhat surprising contributor in recent weeks simply because we weren’t totally sure where he would fit into Spalletti’s plans. Was he going to play in a pivot? Would he play further up the field? Could he handle things if he did play further up the field and be a source of creativity as Juventus’ other forwards/wingers usually are?
Well, my friends, I’ve got some news for you … Miretti’s doing pretty OK in this advanced role.
Say whatever the heck you want about the level of opposition Juventus have played against in the last couple of weeks, but Miretti being a legitimate contributor to wins both in terms of scoring goals and creating scoring chances for his teammates was something we might not have expected in such a thrust into the forefront kind of way. Spalletti clearly rates Miretti, who at 22 just looks much more comfortable on the field compared to the days before he went on loan to Genoa for the 2024-25 season.
This version of Miretti, one that Juve could really use when it comes to production going forward over the next few weeks with so many big games on the schedule, is starting to look like the player who many of us hoped he could develop into when he was still a teenager. Some of the passes he’s dished out the last couple of games are some of the best we’ve seen from any Juve player this season. On top of that, the advanced role he’s now playing in — be it as a No. 10 or as one of the attacking mids when Spalletti goes with more of a three-man defense — is something he’s really taken to.
Now, much like the team as a whole going into next week’s big fixtures, he just needs to keep it going. He does that and hopefully good things continue to happen because he’s been a big part of Juve’s last couple of wins.
MATCH INFO
When: Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026.
Where: Unipol Domus, Cagliari, 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: TLN (Canada); TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 3 (United Kingdom); Sky Sport Calcio, Sky Sport 251 (Italy).
Online/Streaming: Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network, DAZN USA, Amazon Prime Video (United States); DAZN Canada; fuboTV Canada (Canada); DAZN UK (United Kingdom); DAZN Italia, 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 Bluesky. If you haven’t already, join the community on Black & White & Read All Over, and join in the discussion below.
