The Serbian stopped due to a muscle strain. The Juventus playmaker is resting: he will not take the field in Spain-Türkiye tomorrow. Spalletti is thinking of a Totti-style role for him, already tested in the final against Sporting
The calculation is simple, you don’t even need algorithms: with the nine (Vlahovic) at risk for Florence, the Lady clings even more to the ten, Kenan Yildiz. The national teams take away and give back. If the center forward stopped with Serbia (muscle strain), the playmaker will be a spectator tomorrow in the match between Spain and his Türkiye. The assist to Luciano Spalletti was provided directly by the Turkish coach Vincenzo Montella, his student at Sampdoria and Roma, who in Seville will preserve the banned Juventus player in view of the play-offs for the World Cup in March. Anything but a detail for Juventus, ready to embrace a more rested and fresh Kenan on a physical and mental level. The best way not to think too much about Vlahovic’s ailments and to start the tour de force between the championship and the Champions League with momentum: on Saturday Fiorentina at the Franchi and on Tuesday the European hub in Bodo, in the Norwegian cold. Decisive evenings that Spalletti will play with his Juventus Sinner, Yildiez. “I always make Kenan play”, Lucio’s post-derby slogan. Now expect to see him score big points too. The ten is stuck at 3 goals: two scored with Igor Tudor (Inter and Borussia Dortmund) and one from a penalty against Udinese, in the evening of the ferryman Massimo Brambilla. The new Juventus coach wants to start seeing the first autographs of his genius.
David or fake 9
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Take everything away from him, not Yildiz. Spalletti had to forcibly give up the former Bayern player in his debut in Cremona, a stoppage planned to give respite to the boy’s inflamed knee, but the idea is increasingly to build the Lady around the creativity and quality of the 20-year-old from Regensburg. On the left, in the center, everywhere: the important thing is to be able to count on Yildiz. Always and even more so in the event of the absence of Vlahovic, who returned to the starting lineup with the former Italian coach and is still the Lady’s best goalscorer of the season with six goals. In the next 48-72 hours, Spalletti will understand together with the Juventus staff whether to attempt a last-minute recovery of Vlahovic for Florence or whether to proceed with greater caution by aiming directly for the Champions League. In Juventus circles no one is making any claims, but at this moment the second hypothesis seems more probable. Spalletti waits to see the national teams at Continassa and in the meantime thinks, reasons and evaluates. The first idea is to replace Vlahovic with another center forward: Jonathan David rather than Lois Openda, net of the conditions that the two players will show upon returning from commitments with Canada and Belgium. A regular striker plus Yildiz in the 3-5-2 or together with the Turk and another winger in the 4-3-3. The former coach is no stranger to intuitions and surprises: defender Koopmeiners teaches. The “Spallettata” could be Yildiz false 9, Totti style. Solution already tested by the Certaldo coach for a few minutes against Sporting. “Kenan is so good that he can play anywhere”, Lucio explained on the occasion. The move is brewing in Spalletti’s head: whether he will propose it again immediately or only in the future will depend on Vlahovic and the form that Yildiz, David and Openda demonstrate upon their return to Turin.
The return
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In the last few hours, Juventus made an attempt to bring forward Yildiz’s return to Turin, but there was a red light from Istanbul. Permission was granted only to Inter player Hakan Calhanoglu, also banned like Kenan, but only due to a problem with his hand. In the end, the Bianconeri and Turkey found another compromise: the tenth will remain in the national team until tomorrow, but immediately after the match in Seville against Spain he will reach Turin and on Wednesday he will already be on the pitch at Continassa.
Lighter
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Lighter If the renewal with Juventus has stopped – and it has never been so at risk – Kenan wants to unlock himself on the pitch. Apart from the penalty against Udinese (29 October), he has not scored from open play since 16 October. Too much for a ten with his shots. “I could have scored against Turkey and I apologize”, Yildiz’s self-criticism. More incentives for Franchi.
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