Juventus arrive at Sunday’s home match against Milan in the most encouraging possible league position — six points from six, zero goals conceded — but with a medical situation that would have been unthinkable when the summer began. The match is in programme on Sunday 6 September at 20:45 at the Allianz Stadium, with both Juventus and Milan having collected six points from their opening two matches.
The Injury Situation — Three Certain Absentees, Two Doubts
The confirmed absentees are extensive and significant. Yıldız will not be available following surgery for the fifth metatarsal fracture. Thuram is also out following his knee operation, with his return expected considerably later in the season. Ekhator is absent with a muscle problem.
The two names to monitor right up until kick-off are Andrea Cambiaso — whose ankle sprain from the Parma match has left his availability unclear — and Weston McKennie, who is battling muscular fatigue. Cambiaso and McKennie are the two names to follow closely until the last moment.
The Probable Line-Up: Nico González at Number Ten
The most accredited eleven on the eve of the match is: Vicario; Kalulu, Bremer, Kelly, Çelik; Locatelli, Douglas Luiz; Conceição, McKennie, Boga; Kolo Muani. That assumes McKennie passes his fitness test. Should he fail it, Nico González — who scored against Parma from the bench — becomes the most natural replacement in the number ten role, with Spalletti already having indicated the Argentine’s importance to the attacking plan in Yıldız’s absence.
Milan’s Threat: Pulisic Returns, Ramos the Danger
Christian Pulisic is ready to return to action. After the injury sustained during the World Cup, the Milan attacking midfielder should make his seasonal debut against Juventus. Gonçalo Ramos — the striker signed by Milan from PSG for €73 million, whose sale earlier in the summer reset PSG’s internal valuations and complicated the Kolo Muani negotiations — is the attacking focal point most likely to test Vicario and Juventus’s still-unbeaten defensive record. For AC Milan, a trip to Turin provides a massive test to build on their own perfect start to the domestic campaign.
The Significance of the Occasion
Six points from six, zero goals conceded, two new signings still integrating, three key players injured, and now the season’s first genuine examination against a major rival. The match on Sunday evening will say a great deal about the new Juventus. Two victories in the opening two rounds have given enthusiasm — but against Milan the level of the test will inevitably be different. The new Juventus, built across a summer of extraordinary ambition and complexity, faces its first real definition. What follows at 20:45 on Sunday will begin to tell us what it truly is.
