24 July 2020
Sunday will mark the penultimate round of the Serie A season at Allianz Stadium, as Juventus get set to host Claudio Ranieri's Sampdoria. The Blucerchiati, returning from the 2-1 defeat in the Derby della Lanterna (first cross-city loss by Ranieri in Italy), occupy 14th place in the standings, with 41 points won in 35 matches. Meanwhile, away from Marassi, Samp has won three of the last four fixtures.
Since the league restarted, Samp have collected 15 points, which has allowed them to move away from the relegation zone, as they enjoyed important victories against Lecce, Udinese and SPAL. In their last four wins, Samp has always scored three goals in each of triumphs.
GABBIADINI AND BONAZZOLI'S GOLDEN MOMENT
In the last month, two players in particular have stolen the headlines for the Blucerchiati: Manolo Gabbiadini and Federico Bonazzoli. For the former, he has 11 goals to his name in the league so far. For Bonazzoli, however, he has found the back of the net on six occasions, with four of those coming post lockdown. In addition to the attackers, of course, there is also much to be said behind the solidity Ranieri has instilled: for example, Albin Ekdal has in fact proven to be irreplaceable, with 32 appearances, second only to Emil Audero, who has 35 caps to his name this season.
THE FIRST MATCH
In the previous fixture earlier in the season, at Marassi, Juventus won 2-1 with two of the most beautiful goals of the Bianconeri's campaign: Paulo Dybala's left-footer on the fly and Cristiano Ronaldo's leaping jump, which proved his ability of reaching incredible heights to turn the ball into the back of the net and overcome Caprari's equaliser.
