Juventus, Allegri is still arguing with Paredes. Vlahovic on the bench with Sporting Lisbon

Desperately looking for Dusan. After waiting for him for months, first for the groin pain and then to find the best condition, Vlahovic is becoming a case. While remaining one of the points of reference for Juventus and Allegri for the present and for the future, in the decisive moment of the season the coach is forced to make choices by focusing on who boasts the best physical and above all mental condition. Thursday in the Europa League against Sporting Club, the Serbian center forward should start from the bench after yet another match below expectations, the one against Lazio, also conditioned by a foot injury. He is not physically and psychologically well, exhausted by the search for the goal which, as Allegri often underlines, could unlock him. The forwards live on goals but the time to wait for the Serbian seems to have expired: right now Milik is giving the coach more guarantees and against the Portuguese he should start as a starter.

Abstinence in the league, goals in Europe

Yet it was precisely in the Europa League that Vlahovic’s last goal came with the Juventus shirt. If he strikes regularly in the national team, it is in black and white that the Serbian struggles to find his way to goal, the characteristic that made him the object of desire of half of Europe in the last transfer market in January. His last goal came in Juventus’ 0-2 victory in Freiburg, the penalty that unlocked the game and which was preceded by another goal by the Serbian centre-forward, which was however disallowed for offside. From that moment, it was March 16, he never found the way to score except with the Serbian shirt: the three goals scored between Lithuania and Montenegro momentarily restored his smile. A decidedly complicated period, which prompted him to cut off links with the outside world by deleting, or perhaps temporarily suspending, his Instagram profile. During Easter Monday training he remained in the gym training individually: the blow to the foot he received with Lazio risks putting him out of action for Thursday.

Lazio-Juventus 2-1: Zaccagni decides, the biancocelesti are increasingly second

by Matteo Pinci

08 April 2023

Easter Monday training between fans, barbecues and quarrels between Allegri and Paredes

It was a special Easter Monday for the players and for the 300 Juventus fans who attended the training open to the public. The session ended with a tough face-to-face between Allegri and Paredes after the end of training and before the barbecue organized by the club at the Juventus Training Center. The coach and the Argentine playmaker clashed verbally during their return to the locker room: quarrels that are part of the dynamics of any locker room even if it is clear that Paredes’ performance in black and white, and also the satisfaction of the club and the player, were decidedly below expectations. After the hard-nosed words there was a clarification between the two and already this morning Paredes trained with his teammates and will be available to Allegri against the Sporting Club. The future of the world champion, who arrived in loan from PSG and ready to return to France at the end of the season: with the elimination in the Champions League group stage, the mandatory redemption has not been triggered. His future at Juventus, given his playing time and the difficult relationship with Allegri, now seems sealed.