Carnevali: ‘Juventus built competitive squad, pleasing to see Sassuolo’
SASSUOLO, ITALY - JANUARY 06: Luciano Spalletti head coach of Juventus and Giovanni Carnevali Ceo of US Sassuolo during the Serie A match between US Sassuolo Calcio and Juventus FC at Mapei Stadium Citta del Tricolore on January 06, 2026 in Sassuolo, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
Juventus director Giovanni Carnevali admits it’s emotional returning to his old club Sassuolo as an opponent, but they built ‘a competitive squad’ to deal with injury problems.
It kicks off at the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia at 19.45 UK time (20.45 CEST).
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s Serie A games on the Liveblog.
This cannot be a normal game for Carnevali, who spent most of his career at Sassuolo until leaving this summer for a new adventure at Juventus, so this is his first return to the Mapei Stadium surrounded by familiar faces.
Carnevali torn between Juventus and Sassuolo
“It’s lovely, but you don’t forget 13 years easily, so it’s nice to see friends and colleagues. It wasn’t just a sporting experience here, so it’s pleasing to see them all again,” Carnevali told DAZN Italia.
Luciano Spalletti said in his press conference that he wished that Carnevali could play this evening, seeing as players tend to score against their former clubs.
“The coach is very funny. What we need is a line-up with players who can score goals. We know it is a tough game, as Sassuolo have a lot of talent, so we need to be concentrated and ready to bring home the result,” smiled Carnevali.
The Bianconeri needed Federico Gatti to come off the bench and scrape a last-minute equaliser against Milan, but that was a costly encounter, as Manuel Locatelli and Jeremie Boga both picked up injuries.
They join Weston McKennie, Andrea Cambiaso, Kenan Yildiz, Khephren Thuram, Jeff Ekhator and Juan Cabal on the treatment table.
“We tried to build a team that is competitive, taking into account all the difficulties we had recently. It is a big squad, there are many games to be played, and the coach knows how to use the players well.”
The injury crisis gives a rare start to Teun Koopmeiners, while Nico Gonzalez takes a more central role in the revamped attack with Francisco Conceicao, Kerim Alajbegovic and Randal Kolo Muani.
For the first time in their history, Juventus do not start a single Italian outfield player in Serie A, but some of those players who were expected to leave this summer are now getting opportunities.
Was it just the lack of time that prompted Juve to keep those figures?
“It wasn’t just time, there are some situations where we reflected on the quality of these players. I’ve only been at Juventus for three months, and I think we did the best we could, so we’re satisfied with what we managed to do,” concluded Carnevali.
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