Juventus travel to Lecce with a squad stripped down by injuries, leaving Luciano Spalletti to balance immediate necessity with the wider demands of the Serie A season. Only 17 senior outfield players have made the trip to Puglia, eight of them defenders, as the coach prepares for a difficult afternoon at the Via del Mare.
A reduced group for Lecce
- Juventus named a 20-man travelling party for the match, but Spalletti did not include any players from the Next Gen side.
- Kenan Yildiz, Manuel Locatelli, Khephren Thuram, Kamil Grabara, Francisco Conceiçao, Zeki Celik, Nico Gonzalez and Ekhator are unavailable through injury.
- Arkadiusz Milik is also absent, having not been registered in Juventus’ Serie A squad.
- The lack of options is concentrated in the attacking areas, although Spalletti still has eight defenders among his 17 available senior outfield players.
The situation is not entirely new for Juventus. In 2024, under Thiago Motta, the club arrived for the same fixture with only 13 first-team outfield players available. This time the numbers are slightly healthier, but the current absences again force the coach to make choices with little room for error.
Woltemade and Kolo Muani in line to continue
After the encouraging Europa League display against Rennes, particularly from Nick Woltemade, Juventus are expected to retain the German forward alongside Randal Kolo Muani. Weston McKennie is likely to operate behind them in a 3-4-1-2 system.
Douglas Luiz and Teun Koopmeiners, whose form has been improving, are favoured to start in central midfield. Pape Sarr remains available after positive tests at J|Medical, but his workload is being treated carefully. The Senegal midfielder joined from Tottenham after an injury and has already completed three consecutive full matches since the international break.
With Celik and Nico Gonzalez both ruled out, Pierre Kalulu is expected to play on the right flank and Andrea Cambiaso on the left. In front of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, Federico Gatti, Bremer and Jhon Lucumí are set to form the defensive line.
The alternative Spalletti must weigh
Spalletti could instead move Kalulu back into defence, at the expense of Gatti, and place McKennie on the right of midfield. That would open a place behind the strikers for Alajbegovic.
Yet such a solution would leave Juventus with very limited attacking cover during the match. Edon Zhegrova and Jérémie Boga would then be the only bench options able to add directness and creativity in the final third, a consideration that may persuade Spalletti to keep McKennie closer to Woltemade and Kolo Muani from the start.
