TURIN, ITALY – APRIL 12: Kenan Yildiz of Juventus celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the Serie A match between Juventus and Lecce at Allianz Stadium on April 12, 2025 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
Kenan Yildiz returns with Dusan Vlahovic and that surprising Teun Koopmeiners deeper role as Luciano Spalletti makes his Champions League debut on the Juventus bench against Sporting CP.
It kicks off at the Allianz Juventus Stadium in Turin at 20.00 GMT.
The Bianconeri sacked Igor Tudor last Monday after a seven-match winless streak, which included four in a row without finding the net.
Caretaker manager Massimo Brambilla oversaw a 3-1 victory over Udinese, then Spalletti made his debut in a 2-1 win away to Cremonese on Saturday.
He pulled quite a few surprises in that match, none more so than moving Koopmeiners into the centre of a three-man defence.
The former Atalanta midfielder is there again tonight, but Kenan Yildiz has shaken off a knee issue to start in support of Vlahovic.
Weston McKennie is moved into a new role too, as Khephren Thuram’s calf problem is not serious enough to keep him out of the starting XI.
Lloyd Kelly, Gleison Bremer and Juan Cabal still injured, but Francisco Conceicao comes in for a more attacking approach.
There is no time to lose, as Juve managed only a 4-4 draw with Borussia Dortmund, 2-2 against Villarreal, and lost 1-0 at Real Madrid.
Sporting CP have done rather well in the Champions League so far this season, beating Kairat Almaty 4-1 and Roberto De Zerbi’s Olympique Marseille 2-1, around a tight 2-1 defeat away to Napoli.
They won their last five competitive matches in a row, unbeaten since that trip to Naples on October 1.
Long-term absentees are Nuno Santos and Daniel Bragança after knee ligament tears, while Ivan Fresneda sprained his ankle.
Fotis Ioannidis is picked to lead the attack rather than Luis Suarez, with support from Francisco Trincao and Pedro Goncalves.
Former Lecce midfielder Morten Hjulmand and Ivorian defender Ousmane Diomande have both been linked with potential transfers to Juventus in recent months.
Juventus vs. Sporting CP line-ups
Juventus: Di Gregorio; Kalulu, Gatti, Koopmeiners; McKennie, Locatelli, Thuram, Cambiaso; Francisco Conceicao, Kenan Yildiz; Vlahovic
Juventus bench: Perin, Scaglia, Zhegrova, Adzic, Kostic, Openda, Miretti, Rugani, Joao Mario, David, Rouhi
Sporting: Rui Silva; Vagiannidis, Diomande, Goncalo Inacio, Araujo; Joao Simoes, Hjulmand; Quenda, Trincao, Goncalves; Ioannidis
Sporting bench: Joao Virginia, Matheus Reis, Morita, Catamo, Kochorashvili, Alisson Santos, Rodrigo Ribeiro, Bruno Ramos, Salvador Blopa, Eduardo Quaresma, Ricardo Mangas, Suarez
Ref: Siebert (GER)
