Juve slump to opening day home defeat by Udinese

In previous 20 season’s it will be the 41 head to head among them.

The reigning Serie A champions have made some big decisions this year after selling Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez.

Paulo Dybala and Simone Zaza are no strangers to the rigours of the division, but Mario Mandzukic, Alex Sandro and, when fit, Sami Khedira may require a settling-in period to fully justify their place in the team.

Midway through a half dominated by Juve, Pereyra was presented with the clearest opening after a mazy run from Coman, but the Argentine failed to get enough power in his shot to worry Karnezis.

Unsurprisingly, it was the Serie A champions that troubled first.

While the delivery left the Juventus defence with little chance, goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was guilty of remaining rooted to his line.

Juventus are pretty beaten up right now, with two of their expected starters in that midfield trio missing out after Marchisio and Khedira picked up injuries over the last few weeks.

Spain forward Pedro scored on his Chelsea debut to help them to a 3-2 win at West Bromwich Albion, the champions’ first success in three matches this season.

The 7.45pm games will see the focus on Inter Milan and AC Milan. The small tweak worked wonders as Juve became a different beast, underlining his tactical flexibility and pragmatism. Mario Mandzukic suffered a knock to the knee in the midweek friendly: he did not sustain a significant injury, but he is questionable for this match, we will see if he will be part of the squad list. This certainly applies to this Juve side which has an immovable defensive base.

“It’s not a good result of course but I liked the fact that we tried to win the game”, Allegri told Sky Sport Italy and Mediaset after the game. Their leadership and resilience epitomise the club’s whole-hearted mentality.

Juve were throwing everything at Udinese, Patrice Evra even firing a first-timer into the hands of Karnezis after Pogba’s lay-off on the edge of the area. They will be key again for the Old Lady, who will be posed more questions this season with the attacking quality added by their title rivals.

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Defeat ended a much-changed Juve’s 47-match unbeaten home league record. It could take time for the new signings to blend into Allegri’s way of playing but the signs are promising with Dybala and Mandzukic both scoring in the Italian Super Cup victory over Lazio. Meanwhile, the club retained the services of Pogba, who was constantly linked with a move away. One against Parma, one vs. Torino and another was vs. Genoa. A quarter-final appearance is a realistic target.

“There is a very important game next week and we will try to show our real strength against Roma”.