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

I have a confession to make and I feel like the BWRAO community deserves to hear it first. I just have to get it out there and then we’ll move on, folks. It’s the only way to deal with something like this.

OK let’s go.

The last two weeks that the Juventus men haven’t played have been really nice. It doesn’t matter how busy my personal life has been, it doesn’t matter how busy my work life has been – and it certainly was invigorated – but the fact that apart from some Juventus news there hasn’t been much to worry about or stress over the last 13 days. That’s because the managerial decision that some thought would make sense during the international break didn’t materialize and apart from the expected massive losses the club posted for the 2021/22 financial year, things have been quiet.

I enjoyed the quiet. I really enjoyed the quiet.

Unfortunately, the calm is gone again. Oh, how I will miss the rest.

Sunday night brings us the first game in a 12 game match where a whole lot of things will be decided. The schedule will be an absolute gauntlet from here until the start of the World Cup break, but Juve’s opponents this weekend, 16th-placed Bologna, are quite one that can be viewed as three easy points so long as nothing major is screwed up .

Trouble is, Juventus got through that very game two weeks ago when they went into the international break with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Monza, giving the Serie A newcomers their first win in Italy’s top flight. And it’s the same kind of game in which Juventus dropped points over the course of Max Allegri’s rather disappointing return to Turin.

But Allegri speaks very strongly of Bologna’s visit to Turin as the Sunday when “a new season begins”. He said Juventus “need to get back to winning ways”, with Bologna being a very struggling side, having recorded just one win in their first seven games of the 2022/23 season. They are already on their second manager of the season after sacking Sinisa Mihajlovic after five straight losses earlier in the season. The new manager plays with the former Inter go on Midfielder Thiago Motta was a relative development in a positive sense, but it’s not as if things could get much worse for Bologna in the final days of Mihajlovic’s tenure.

While position in the table is important, it’s not as if teams playing in, just above or far from the relegation zone was something that allowed Juventus to pick up points.

In all honesty, it was the complete opposite.

If Juventus want this to be the ‘new season’ they so desire, then these are the games Juventus must win. That’s especially true given the relative unpredictability of what’s going on with the teams at the top of the table ahead of Juventus.

And let’s face it, it’s hard to laugh at Inter’s struggles when Juventus played the way they went into the international break. “Oh, you want to laugh and cackle at Inter? Well, look at your racquet in the mirror, mate!” is something I’ve probably said to myself more than a few times in the last month or so.

Maybe this Sunday is the start of something new for Juventus. Can a man hope? Well, maybe not now that Juventus have started the season. So maybe it’s more the same. If forced to choose, the most likely choice would be Door No. 2, which is filled with Juve’s form from the first six weeks of the season.

Anyway, we’ll find out if that international break was the break that Juventus players and the guy in charge actually needed to get things back on track.

TEAM NEWS

• Long-term injured are still the same three guys: Federico Chiesa, Paul Pogba and Kaio Jorge.
• Allegri gave an update on Chiesa and Pogba, saying: “Chiesa will start working with the ball and getting closer to the team. Pogba hasn’t started walking yet.”
• Many players are back in the squad. Manuel Locatelli, Adrien Rabiot and Alex Sandro are back from their respective injuries, while Arek Milik and Juan Cuadrado are back from suspension. Allegri is back even after his suspension after the Landucci effect didn’t go so well against Monza.
• Juve’s only other absentee is Angel Di Maria, who is suspended for two games after being sent off against Monza.
• For Juventus it is the first of eight games in October.

JUVENTUS PLAYERS TO WATCH

Are we talking again about someone playing in Juventus midfield?

Yes, yes, we are.

Photo by ANP via Getty Images

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Manuel Locatelli in the Juventus starting XI. Or on the field entirely as a muscle injury – surprise! – kept the Italy midfielder out of the mix since Juve’s 2-1 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain on September 6.

But when he was actually healthy, it wasn’t as if Locatelli had had such a great season. It was quite a painful struggle to watch Locatelli fail to repeat the preseason form he had last season after coming from Sassuolo for the first time.

What went wrong? Well, it’s hard to say. With Leandro Parades now on the squad, Locatelli is not responsible for bearing the brunt of the creative workload in midfield from a deep-lying position. While a small sample, Paredes has proven to be a much better option there than Locatelli, whose refocusing to a more advanced midfield role has now worked as well as many thought.

The predicted lineups appear to alternate between Allegri with a 3-5-2 or a 4-4-2, which would mean Locatelli could be an easy choice for the starting lineup or looking in from the outside when there are only two men in the Crew are the focal point of the park. If he does start it will certainly be a chance to get his season back on track and show what a midfielder he can be when things go a lot more positively.

With Paul Pogba’s return date still up in the air, getting Locatelli back on track is definitely a key piece of the puzzle if Juventus are to get any form underway over the course of the next four or six weeks before the World Cup break.

GAME INFO

When: Sunday 2 October 2022.

Where: Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy.

Official kick-off time: 8:45 p.m. local time in Italy and Europe, 7:45 p.m. in the UK, 2:45 p.m. Eastern Time, 11:45 a.m. Pacific Time.

LIKE WATCHING

TV: TLN (Canada); BT Sport 1 (UK).

Online/Streaming: Outstanding+ (United States); fuboTV Canada (Canada); BT Sport app, BTSport.com (UK); DAZN, Sky GO Italia (Italy).

More live viewing options are available hereand as always you can follow us live and all the stupid things we say on twitter. If not already done join the community on Black & White & Read All Over and join the discussion below.