Saturday’s Supercoppa is shaping up to be an even contest between the current Serie A and Champions League finalists Juventus and Coppa Italia finalists Lazio.
The sides are at various stages of their preseasons before the beginning of the Serie A on 23 August.
Juventus began their preseason training three weeks ago, meeting Borussia Dortmund just five days later. Their performance was rusty and ended in a 2-0 loss, somewhat expected at this early stage of the campaign and against a team which had almost three weeks advantage.
Lechia Gdansk were the next opponent just four days later and the class was beginning to show. A 2-1 win was the result of a dominant performance from the Bianconeri, unable to finish many great opportunities.
Juve’s most recent warm-up match was against Marseille and despite the score reading 2-0 in favour of the French club, it was another commanding display from the Bianconeri.
Perhaps the most concerning part of the Juventus preseason has been the number of injuries to key players of the squad.
Andrea Barzagli missed the second and third friendlies due to a torn groin from the game against Dortmund and will miss Sunday’s clash.
Giorgio Chiellini had to be substituted off after just eight minutes in his side’s fixture against Lechia Gdansk, tearing his thigh and will also sit out the match to be played in Shanghai, China.
The injuries have not stopped there, however. New recruit Sami Khedira became the third casualty and will spend two months on the sidelines with a thigh injury. Alvaro Morata has also succumbed to injury, tearing his calf at training on the eve of the cup.
These injuries will test the depth of Massimilano Allegri’s men, especially in defence where a reshuffle may need to occur if he opts not to start with Leonardo Bonucci and Daniele Rugani in the centre-back positions.
Lazio have taken full advantage of an early start to their preseason campaign, although results have been indifferent.
In what were youth dominated squads, the Biancocelesti piled on the goals against C.S Auronzo and Top 11 Cadore in early July. Chris Ikonomidis was rewarded in his first start with the senior team with a goal in the match against Auronzo.
This was followed up with a match against Serie B side Vicenza. The away side’s one shot on target was all it needed in a surprise victory with Lazio on top of all the other statistics.
A match in Belgium the next day may have been a little too much for the squad to handle so early in the preseason, however. Anderlecht proved to be the far superior on the day in a 3-1 win.
Some late drama in the Czech Republic made the score appear respectable against Sigma Olomouc, with the home side taking a 3-2 win with a superb second half performance.
It was then over to Germany three days later and although Lazio enjoyed the majority of possession and created the better chances, the scoreline read 3-0 against Mainz.
The offseason for Lazio has been a relatively quiet one for a club looking to bolster its stocks. It will need them with a challenging season ahead. Lazio will be juggling Serie A and potential Champions League commitments if they make it beyond the qualifying rounds.
Additions include three free transfers of players under 20: Gabbaron Gil from Barcelona B, Wesley Hoedt from AZ Alkmaar and Ricardo Kishna from Ajax.
Mario Balotelli has been a reported target in the last week, with a loan deal supposedly submitted to Liverpool on the basis Lazio qualify for the group stages of the Champions League.
Saturday’s match will display a Juventus side which is still trying to discover a formation which will be effective for the upcoming season and which takes into consideration the significant changes to the squad. An all new forward line will need time to gel and a different looking midfield may need to set up in a manner to service their goalscorers.
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