After five years without a Scudetto, Juventus head into their 2025/26 Serie A season opener against Parma keen to make a statement. Allianz Stadium is the venue as the record-time Italian champions se...
After five years without a Scudetto, Juventus head into their 2025/26 Serie A season opener against Parma keen to make a statement. Allianz Stadium is the venue as the record-time Italian champions seek a winning start that could set the tone for a long-awaited title charge.
Despite suffering a joint-low four league defeats last season, Juventus sneaked into the top four by the skin of their teeth. Indeed, a 3-2 win at relegated Venezia on the final weekend saw the Turin powerhouse beat Roma to a coveted fourth place by a single point.
Igor Tudor, who helped the Bianconeri secure European football after replacing Thiago Motta in March, will be at the steering wheel at the start of the new campaign. Juventus had tried to lure Antonio Conte back to Turin earlier in the summer before deciding to stick with the Croatian manager.
Tudor’s fate in the dugout will likely depend on Juve’s ability to compete for the title. Beating Parma would be a perfect way to kick off the season, but the visitors won’t arrive at the Allianz Stadium to make up the numbers. Instead, they’ll look to impress on Carlos Cuesta’s touchline debut in Serie A.
As the third-youngest coach to ever debut in the top flight, Cuesta has a point to prove this season. The 30-year-old ended his stint as Mikel Arteta’s assistant manager at Arsenal to replace Cristian Chivu in June. Like his predecessor, Cuesta’s sole mission is to keep Parma clear of a relegation battle.
Match Preview
Juventus
Though Juventus made plenty of noise in recent transfer windows, they’ve seemingly decided to keep a low profile this summer. Except for the arrival of Jonathan David from Lille on a free transfer, Joao Mario remains the only other senior addition.
Juventus paid Porto around €12 million to sign the Portuguese fullback. However, they had to splash north of €100 million to make the transfers of Francisco Conceicao, Nico Gonzalez, Lloyd Kelly, and Pierre Kalulu permanent. But one more reinforcement toward the end of the summer remains a genuine possibility.
Defensive solidity was the key behind Juventus’ top-four finish last term, with only reigning holders Napoli (19) keeping more clean sheets than the Bianconeri’s 18 in Serie A. Furthermore, they were among the division’s fastest starters in 2024/25, breaking the deadlock in the second-most 25 matches.
Against this backdrop, they let Parma draw first blood in both last season’s meetings, failing to take three points on each occasion (D1, L1). Nonetheless, they are still far ahead of the Crusaders in the all-time head-to-head record (W35, D19, L14).
Parma
Cuesta probably wouldn’t mind sharing the spoils in his Serie A debut, which was the case the last time Parma visited Turin. A 2-2 draw in this corresponding fixture last season extended the Crusaders’ unenviable run at the Allianz Stadium to eight consecutive matches without a win (D2, L6), highlighting the size of the task ahead.
As if that’s not worrying enough, Parma parted ways with two of their most significant first-team players from last season. Ange-Yoan Bonny has joined Inter, while prodigious center-back Giovanni Leoni moved to Liverpool despite being linked with several top teams in Serie A. There’s a feeling they haven’t done enough to replace the departed duo.
For that reason, Cuesta has his work cut out to mold a new-look team. Ominously, Parma have only won three league matches since the start of 2025 (D9, L8). Moreover, they conceded at least two goals in seven of their eight away league games against last season’s top-eight sides, casting further doubt on Cuesta’s hopes of upsetting the odds.
Team News
Juventus are still without Juan Cabal, who missed the better part of last season due to injury. However, star center-back Gleison Bremer is back from a lengthy spell on the sidelines and will likely be at the heart of Tudor’s backline. Meanwhile, David should lead the line at the expense of Dusan Vlahovic.
On the other hand, it’ll probably be up to Marco Pellegrino to make up for Bonny’s departure after his second-half double inspired Parma to a 2-0 Coppa Italia win over Pescara last weekend. Botond Balogh is out suspended, while Jacob Ondrejka won’t return to action anytime soon. The same goes for Matija Frigan.
Juventus vs Parma Potential Starting Line-ups
Juventus (3-4-2-1): Di Gregorio; Kalulu, Bremer, Kelly; Mario, Thuram, Locatelli, Cambiaso; Conceicao, Yildiz; David.
Parma (3-4-2-1): Suzuki; Delprato, Circati, Valenti; Lovik, Bernabe, Keita, Valeri; Almqvist, Ordonez; Pellegrino.
Juventus vs Parma Prediction
Anything other than three routine points for Juventus would be a major disappointment for the Turin club. However, the Bianconeri should take all three points and uphold their 100% win ratio in opening-day matches against Parma in Serie A (W4).
Category: General Sports
