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

Here is something we haven’t been able to say in a while: Juventus are actually coming off a win. I know, I know — I can’t believe it either with the way the last two months have gone. But the rumors are true, dear readers, a Juventus win happened four days ago and we actually got to write about something other than what has been happening ever since the high-scoring ways that filled January.

But the thing about getting one win during a brutal stretch doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods just yet. Maybe not even two wins or a few good results rather than the continued doom that you’ve gone through for the last few months.

To get to the better, though, you need to try and turn the corner somewhere along the way. And while we don’t know what the future holds over these final eight league games, we now get to see if Max Allegri’s can start to make things better following Tuesday night’s win over Lazio in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals.

That next chance comes Sunday night on the same field in which the midweek win occurred. And it just so happens to be against a Fiorentina that, like Juventus, picked up a Coppa Italia win midweek that they are hoping will do the same thing as Allegri’s squad — be the start of a turn for the better during a truly awful spell of form. That’s because, before their respective midweek victories, this is how many points Juve and Fiorentina have recorded over the past six games:

• Juventus: 6
• Fiorentina: 6

OK, so as you can clearly see, Juve and Fiorentina are two of the most out of form teams currently going in Serie A. That’s because as much as the last six games have not been good for either side, these streaks of bad form go much further back than just wha the form guide on WhoScored says. That’s because this is what things look like for both clubs since the start of the new year — which, as we know for Juve, was actually pretty good:

• Juventus: 12 games played, 16 points earned
• Fiorentina: 11 games played, 10 points earned

Those numbers … yeah, those numbers aren’t good at all.

So this is the thing with Juventus winning on Tuesday: If they don’t actually string something together, then what use is it other than a two-goal aggregate lead in the Coppa semis? Juventus, with the schedule that they have going forward after this weekend, can’t afford too many more slip-ups or else the goal of the Champions League qualification that Allegri has been hammering home basically every time he steps in front of a microphone before or after a game becomes even more in peril.

Of course, the memories of what it took for Juventus to beat Fiorentina the first time these two teams met this season at the Franchi in Florence. It was corto muso as corto muso gets, with Juve defending for their lives after Fabio Miretti scored his first senior goal in the 10th minute. Fiorentina sent in crosses after cross to no avail. It had the likes of Bremer and Juve’s other defenders and midfielders racking up clearances and defensive actions like they were going out of style. It was strong defending, sure, but also the kind of highwire act that has proven to work only so many times with this team.

Could Sunday be like that yet again?

As we talked about with Tito for the midweek preview podcast episode, he wouldn’t be surprised at all if things play out along the same lines as they did back in early November. That is very much how much faith that somebody who knows Fiorentina quite well has in his favorite team at the moment. But he’s also very much in the same kind of situation like many Juve supporters are: Maybe the midweek win in the Coppa Italia can start something for the better. And to make things even the more interesting (?), Juventus could very well take the field in fourth place if Bologna does what they’ve been doing a lot of lately when they face 18th-place Frosinone in Sunday’s lunchtime kickoff.

Hopefully Tuesday night’s win begins a turn for the better. Please, guys, hopefully it does turn out to be the start of something new with much more points than we’ve seen over the last nine Serie A fixtures. Because the last two months have been enough of the stuff that sees a good season turn into something where you let all that previous good work come up just short.

TEAM NEWS

• The biggest piece of news over the last couple of days is that Federico Chiesa has recovered from dealing with flu-like symptoms earlier in the week. Chiesa, who scored Juve’s opening goal in the 2-0 Coppa Italia win over Lazio, missed training on Thursday but returned to the group 24 hours later.
• Arek Milik is the only player currently out injured for Juventus. Allegri said that he expects the Polish striker back in 15 to 20 days.
• The same two suspended players, Paul Pogba and Nicolo Fagioli, are still suspended. Just for a reminder, Fagioli’s suspension is set to expire on May 20, which isn’t so far away now.
• With just about everybody healthy, the only reported decision starting lineup-wise that Allegri is still mulling over is at the left wingback spot between Filip Kostic and Samuel Iling-Junior.
• Allegri said Sunday’s game “will be a good test of character.”

JUVENTUS PLAYER TO WATCH

Goals are important. Goals from your strikers are even more important.

Therefore, let’s talk about one of Juventus’ strikers who scored a goal the last time this team played.

Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images

We can save a discussion about Dusan Vlahovic’s latest hairstyle later — I don’t even know what you would call this one? — and that’s because will talk about this guy’s importance going forward here these last eight league games.

Unsurprisingly, Juventus are a better team with the guy who’s second in the league in goals scored as compared to when he’s not on the field. So, it’s pretty safe to say that Juve need to keep him on the field, be it health-wise or simply avoiding a repeat of what happened late against Genoa when he mouthed off to the ref and was shown a red.

I bring this up because the numbers with Vlahovic in and with him out are pretty staggering:

• Average goals per game with Vlahovic in the lineup: 1.6
• Average goals per game without Vlahovic in the lineup. 0.8
• Average points per game with Vlahovic in the lineup: 2.16
• Average points per game without Vlahovic in the lineup: 1.0

During tough times, you need your stars to try and lead you out of the darkness. Despite his still young age, Vlahovic is very much a star on this team, and they desperately need him to do what he’s done a lot of during the 2024 calendar year — keep scoring goals. If he plays the way he did midweek against Lazio, then there’s a good chance that those goals will continue to be present. That’s the good sign from Vlahovic and the confidence he’s got.

Let’s just hope it continues because when Vlahovic is playing like that, the hope is that he’ll need only a scoring chance or two before finding the back of the net. Just keep the ball rolling, they say.

MATCH INFO

When: Sunday, April 7, 2024.

Where: Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy.

Official kickoff time: 8:45 p.m. in Italy and the Central European time zone, 7:45 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 2:45 p.m. Eastern time, 11:45 a.m. Pacific time.

HOW TO WATCH

Television: TLN (Canada); TNT Sports 1 (United Kingdom).

Online/Streaming: Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo (United States); fuboTV Canada (Canada); discovery+, discovery+ app (United Kingdom); DAZN Italy, 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 Twitter. If you haven’t already, join the community on Black & White & Read All Over, and join in the discussion below.