A whole lot has happened since the last time Juventus and Fiorentina played each other back in March. So much that it’s almost leaving you in the kind of thought process where you’re probably bound to forget something or just suddenly go “Oh, right! That happened, too!” It’s the kind of situation at each club that probably nobody wants to actually see the team they root for happen, but Juve and Fiorentina supporters have seen so much change over the last eight months that sometimes it just makes your head spin.
There’s been multiple coaching changes at both clubs, including both of them making in-season firings and hirings within the last few weeks. There’s been plenty of discontent from fans when it comes to the wealthy fellas who own each club. There’s been high-priced transfers that haven’t worked out — and that just feels like the start when it comes to some very interesting roster decisions the last few years.
So, everything is fine. Except not really.
As Juventus heads to Florence for Saturday’s return from the November international break, both clubs are coping with their own difficult starts to the 2025-26 season that have seen plenty of panic and frustration ensue. Juventus are, somehow, just five points off league-leading Inter Milan and Roma but still sitting out of the top four — and that is the better of the two situations. That’s because you’ll have to keep on scrolling all the way down to the very bottom of the Serie A table to find Fiorentina — which, like Juventus, have recently made a managerial change after Stefano Pioli’s return to Florence went about as horribly as some feared it might.
In short, you’ve got a Juventus team hoping to start something positive with Luciano Spalletti out of the international break, while new Fiorentina manager Paolo Vanoli is hoping that he can do something that Pioli didn’t do in Serie A this season. That would be win a game.
Seems to be an interesting little Saturday in store, doesn’t it?
Well, maybe. There is the simple fact that Juve are still trying to adjust to life under Spalletti and have only had a full squad training with him for the last few days of the international break. While so much of the mystery of Spalletti’s work during the break has been about how much of his “system” he will try to implement despite so many players being away on national team duty, it’s still hard to do what you want to do when you’re working with a fraction of your squad. (Then again, it’s not like they’re going to have a lot of training time over these next couple of months because of how crazy the schedule is.)
It will, of course, be interesting just how much different Juve look after the break as compared to Spalletti’s first three games in charge before it. Is this when Spalletti rolls out a new formation that includes a four-man backline? Does he he continue to use the three-man defense and maybe make some changes up front and/or on the wings? How will he take advantage of the fact that Fiorentina also have a brand new manager and they are also probably still adjusting to life following Pioli’s brutal 11-game run domestically to start the season?
These are just some of the questions that have popped into my head as the days have gotten closer to Juventus’ trip to Florence — and surely there will be plenty more as the time before kickoff on Saturday gets smaller and smaller.
In the end, though, the biggest thing Juventus need to improve on is what has hampered them both before and after Spalletti took over as manager: their finishing in front of goal. It’s been the thing that has one of the biggest reasons as to why Juve’s last two games against Sporting CP and Torino in the Derby della Mole have been draws rather than wins that Spalletti can boast about coming out of the break. I mean, just look at this:
Fiorentina have the worst defense in Serie A. This isn’t some sort of statistical quirk because we’re working with a small sample size of two or three games. We’re nearly a third of the way through the 2025-26 season, and Fiorentina have allowed a Serie A-high 18 goals. Their goal differential of minus-9 is second-worst in the league behind only Hellas Verona, the team that sits right in front of them in 19th place.
Vanoli won’t be able to fix all of Fiorentina’s problems — especially defensively — right away, so it’s imperative that Juventus are able to actually take advantage of them at the Franchi.
They do that, and Spalletti will probably be starting a very important stretch to close out 2025 on a positive note.
- The big development with Juventus’ traveling squad to Florence being announced is that Dusan Vlahovic has been deemed fit and is available to play against his former side. Just how he will be able to play remains to be seen, but the fact that he’s part of the traveling squad is a pretty good sign that he’ll play some sort of part against Fiorentina.
- Don’t worry, though, we have a new injury! As we await Gleison Bremer’s return to the field, we now know that Juve will be down another center back against Fiorentina, as Daniele Rugani picked up a muscle injury in training and is set to miss 3-4 weeks.
- Bremer is still a couple of weeks away from making his return, with the big Brazilian reportedly targeting Juventus’ Dec. 7 trip to Naples to face Spalletti’s former squad Napoli as a potential comeback fixture.
- Also out injured for the trip to Florence: Carlo Pinsoglio and (of course) Arek Milik.
- You’ll notice that Juan Cabal is not on that list of injured players. The Colombian defender returned to training on Thursday after missing close to two months due to a hamstring injury he picked up against Villarreal.
- Same goes for Lloyd Kelly, who is back in the squad after missing the last couple of weeks due to a muscle injury.
- With Kelly back in the squad, Spalletti did note at his pre-match press conference that it could mean Teun Koopmeiners returns to more of his natural role as a midfielder. Or, as Spalletti put it, “a more advanced position.”
- As has been the case the last handful of domestic fixtures, Koopmeiners — you know, the guy who looks like a relatively good player again in his new role under Spalletti — is one yellow card away from having to serve a one-game suspension. Considering Juventus has just one other Serie A fixture between this one and facing Napoli on Dec. 7, it feels like an important matter to remember.
We don’t just how much Vlahovic will play against Fiorentina in his latest trip back to Florence. So, because of that, it feels rather appropriate that we at least dedicate some sort of time to the guy who could very well fill his spot.
The last time we did this with Jonathan David, he barely played. So here’s to hoping that the guy we’re talking about plays a little bit more after getting this little bit of spotlight. Oh, and plays better than he has been.
DeFodi Images via Getty Images
A lot of the predicted lineups are thinking that it’s going to be Loïs Openda stepping in for Vlahovic against Fiorentina on Saturday evening. If that’s the case, then it will be interesting for multiple reasons:
- It’s not the natural guy you think would step in for Vlahovic.
- It’s something that might result in a formation change from Spalletti even if sticks with a three-man backline.
- Openda has not been very good since coming to Juventus.
Sure, take what you want out of the statement that “Openda hasn’t scored a goal in seven months” because that’s a little bit of crafting the narrative around the calendar. There is some truth to that, of course, and the fact that Openda has looked more than a little out of sorts in front of goal since first coming to Juventus is a little worrying. For some strikers there’s just a bit of bad luck when it comes to some cold streaks. For Openda, though, he just hasn’t been very good at all.
So, I remind you: Fiorentina have the worst defense in Serie A. Juventus under Spalletti have created chances but haven’t done a very good job of finishing those chances. It’s come with Vlahovic being in the lineup as compared to Openda, but the fact that they’re creating more chances under their new manager is a start.
Now it’s about finishing those chances — and Openda could very well play a big part of that if he’s in the starting lineup. And you can only imagine what getting a goal right out of the international break could do for a player who has struggled in his first three months with his new club and probably isn’t riding high with confidence.
When: Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.
Where: Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence, Italy.
Official kickoff time: 6 p.m. local time in Italy and across Europe, 5 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 12 p.m. Eastern time, 11 a.m. Central time, 9 a.m. Pacific time.
Television: Fox Deportes (United States); TLN (Canada).
Online/Streaming: Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network, DAZN USA, Amazon Prime Video, foxsports.com, Fox Sports app (United States); DAZN Canada; fuboTV Canada; Amazon Prime Video; Fubo Sports Network Canada (Canada); DAZN UK (United Kingdom); DAZN Italia, Sky Go Italia (Italy).
Other live viewing options can be found here, and as always, you can also follow along with us live and all the stupid things we say on Bluesky. If you haven’t already, join the community on Black & White & Read All Over, and join in the discussion below.
