position
Juventus go into the game against Bayer 04 on the back of an unbeaten run. The Old Lady beat SPAL Ferrara 2-0 in Serie A thanks to goals from Pjanic and Ronaldo to remain undefeated to date. After six games, they are in second place in Italy's top flight with five wins and one draw – a successful start to the season at first sight. Albeit Juventus have not yet shown the dominance this season that the team exhibited last term when they won their eighth league title in succession. And in the Champions League, the 2-2 draw at Atlético Madrid may well have felt like a defeat. With 20 minutes to play, the ’Bianconeri' – the White and Blacks – were two goals up away to the top Spanish club but went on to concede the equaliser on 90 minutes. Nevertheless: it was, all in all, a satisfactory start for the new coach Maurizio Sarri who was able to rest a superstar in Serie A in the week. Cristiano Ronaldo was on the bench for the whole of the 2-1 win away to SPAL on Tuesday. Following the important game against the Werkself, they are away to league leaders Inter Milan in the top game in Serie A on Saturday – first against second as Inter have won all six league games so far this season.
Personnel
At first sight, CR7 outshines everything else: five-time world player of the year, five-time Champions League winner, record goalscorer in Europe's premier competition, reigning European Championships winner, one of the best players of all times The list is almost endless. There is not a lot more to say about Cristiano Ronaldo, who faces Bayer 04 for the first time in his career, as the Portugal international is still the X Factor for Juventus. At the same time, it will be too much to declare the class of the Italian side is just down to Ronaldo – as he is part of a star-studded team built up by the management at the Old Lady. Possibly the biggest defensive talent worldwide, Matthijs de Ligt (pictured above), was signed from Ajax in the summer for a large fee. In contrast, Juventus did not have to pay a transfer fee for the experienced midfielders Aaron Ramsey (from Arsenal) and Adrien Rabiot (from Paris St Germain). And finally: Gianluigi Buffon is back. The now 41-year-old keeper returns after a one-year break in Paris – as the number two at Juve behind the Pole Wojciech Szczesny. And that despite Buffon taking over from Paolo Maldini as the Italian player with the most appearances of all time following the game against SPAL on Saturday. The wealth of quality players is evident in nearly all positions. One person to suffer from that is a former Leverkusen player. Emre Can, who played for the Werkself in 2013/2014, was not nominated for Juve's Champions League squad and accordingly is not available – proof of the immense quality that Juventus have to offer.
Problems
For the past few days, there has been a gap at right back. The Brazilian Danilo, who arrived in the summer from Manchester City, suffered a calf injury in the victory at SPAL and will miss the game against Bayer 04. That loss is even more serious as Danilo's understudy Mattia de Sciglio is also unavailable due to a similar injury. There are no established right backs in the squad and Can or the long-term injured stalwart Giorgio Chiellini, who have also played in that position, are unable to jump into the breach. It is likely that Juan Cuadrado, who played at the back on the right against SPAL, will provide an attacking option as the Colombian normally plays on the right wing.
potential
When a club parts company with a coach, despite winning the league title in all of his five years and twice reaching the Champions League final, that can only mean one thing: More is required. At Juve, the extremely successful Massimiliano Allegri was replaced after last season by Maurizio Sarri, who won the Europa League with Chelsea and previously made Napoli the main rivals of Allegri’s Bianconeri. The key requirement for Sarri is clear: The campaign to win the Champions League for a second time in the club's history since the victory in 1996.
prediction
The already solid defence has further been strengthened with the addition of de Ligt, the midfield is full of experience and in attack they have a certain Cristiano Ronaldo: Juventus are the favourites to top Group D – and perhaps go much further. Very few sides on the continent can claim to have such a high individual quality in their squads as the team from northern Italy. Juve are one of the top favourites to win the Champions League this season. If the change of coaches to Sarri produces the hoped-for improvement then winning Europe's premier club competition could see the title return to Turin for the first time since 1996.
