February goes to be hardest and most necessary month of the 2025-26 season for Juventus. Over the subsequent 4 weeks, the Bianconeri will play three of the opposite groups within the prime six, a Lazio squad that may at all times resolve to trigger an issue, a Coppa Italia quarterfinal away from dwelling towards Atalanta, and their two-legged Champions League playoff tie towards Galatasaray.
WOOF.
Commercial
However earlier than all of that, Juve had one final provincial facet, Parma, to ease into the slate.
In fact, over the previous couple of years the shortcoming to constantly win towards opponents they need to be beating has been an indicator of the Previous Woman’s struggles — as exemplified by the truth that coming into the match they hadn’t overwhelmed Parma on the Stadio Ennio Tardini since 2020. Their current swing of type below Luciano Spalletti has seen them begin to make quick work of inferior groups extra typically, however there was nonetheless these inexplicable video games towards Lecce and Cagliari that stood as stark warnings that this recreation, sandwiched between final week’s contest with Napoli and the approaching month’s monster schedule, would arrange as a traditional lure recreation.
But when there was a lure, it actually wasn’t an excellent one.
Juve had the most effective of Sunday’s match from the start. They have been very practically forward inside 60 seconds and will’ve been up 2-0 after six minutes. Parma have been completely suffocated, and their protection — which till final week had earned accolades for its stoutness — was repeatedly pulled aside by Juve’s attackers. Whereas they weren’t main by two after six minutes, they did nonetheless head into the locker room 2-0 up, with targets from Bremer (off a nook kick!!) and Weston McKennie carrying them into the break on a excessive.
Commercial
Even after they let Parma again into the sport with an personal purpose — a mistake that in previous seasons would have skewered this workforce — they responded with a vengeance, wiping that mistake out inside three minutes and shortly including a fourth for good measure. The 4-1 ultimate rating nonetheless nearly flattered to deceive; the Crusaders have been fairly fortunate that it hadn’t been extra. It was a dominant victory that propelled them into the fires of February with a ton of confidence.
Spalletti was nonetheless solely lacking Dusan Vlahovic, Arkadiusz Milik, and Daniele Rugani — the latter of whom was set to maneuver to Fiorentina earlier than the winter switch deadline. After rotating a bit towards Monaco in midweek, Spalletti went full-strength in Emilia-Romagna, sending out a 4-2-3-1 with all of his starters. Michele Di Gregorio began in purpose behind the again 4 of Pierre Kalulu, Bremer, Lloyd Kelly, and Andrea Cambiaso. Manuel Locatelli and Khéphren Thuram served because the double pivot in midfield, whereas Francisco Conceição, McKennie, and Kenan Yildiz backed up Jonathan David in assault.
Parma’s supervisor, the up-and-coming Carlos Cuesta, hadn’t even been alive when Spalletti made his managerial debut. Sure, you learn that proper, his managerial debut, which he made the yr earlier than Cuesta was born. He was coming in below some stress after a run of poor outcomes—together with a 4-0 hammering by Atalanta final week—had squandered a fast begin and left them weak to being sucked into the relegation battle. He countered with a 4-3-2-1, however was lacking beginning goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, in addition to Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Matija Frigan, Lautaro Valenti, and Pontus Almqvist. Edoardo Corvi began in purpose, fronted by Enrico Delprato, Mariano Troilo, Alessandro Circati, and Emanuele Valeri. Former Juve prospect Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, simply arrived in Parma from Fiorentina, made his workforce debut, together with fellow midfielders Mandela Keita and Adrián Bernabé. Gaetano Oristanio and Jacob Ondrejka supported Mateo Pellegrino—the scorer of the successful purpose in final yr’s assembly on the Tardini—up entrance.
It took all of 45 seconds for Corvi’s evening to start out. Locatelli despatched a ball excessive to Kalulu, who neatly squared it to an underlapping Conceição, whose first-time shot was palmed simply large of the publish. 5 minutes later the diminutive winger had one other unimaginable probability when Yildiz despatched McKennie into the left channel. The U.S. worldwide pulled the ball again for Conceição, who met it with one other first-time effort from seven yards out however slammed the shot off the underside of the crossbar.
Commercial
Juve continued to put siege to the Parma purpose, and it wasn’t lengthy earlier than the breakthrough. It got here, of all methods, off a nook kick. Scoring off set items has been a bugaboo for Juve for the final season and a half, however this time Conceição’s supply was glorious, and the Parma defending actually wasn’t. Bremer began his run proper on the fringe of the field, nearly hiding behind a row of teammates earlier than swinging out large of them and reaching the six-yard field fully unmarked. He rose up and despatched a bullet header previous Corvi as Pellegrino tried to step as much as catch him, claiming his second purpose of the yr, and the primary intentional one.
Juve didn’t let up, and immediately appeared for his or her second purpose. They practically had it 5 minutes after the opener, when Conceição once more noticed an opportunity go begging, albeit this time as a result of a last-ditch deal with from Delprato poked the ball out of his path a fraction earlier than he might take his shot.
There have been just a few moments in the course of the half that would have introduced the great vibes to a halt had the outcomes been barely totally different. Within the twenty sixth minute, McKennie went in late for a problem and planted his studs into Troilo’s ankle. He was booked immediately, however VAR Fabio Maresca held play as much as test whether or not it needs to be upgraded to a pink card. Fortunately, McKennie was let off with simply the warning after Maresca declined to name referee Francisco Forneau to the monitor.
Commercial
A couple of minutes later, Bernabé discovered Valeri in house with swap. The total-back determined to have a crack from 25 yards and bent the ball round Kalulu towards the goal, however Di Gregorio, who till then had had little or no to do, dove to parry it behind.
Juve didn’t need the sport on a knife’s edge, and with eight minutes left within the half have been in a position to push it a bit nearer to security. Locatelli was once more the initiator, discovering run into house by David. David cushioned the ball into Kalulu’s ft, and the Frenchman lifted a stunning cross into the left channel, the place McKennie met it with an off-balance volley that flashed throughout Corvi and into the far nook.
Juve very practically threw away that purpose a couple of minutes later, when Locatelli performed a suicidal go from close to his personal endline to the highest of the penalty space that was stolen and rifled at purpose by Oristanio, who was thwarted by Di Gregorio’s dive to his proper. The self-inflicted harm didn’t cease at that close to miss, however continued into the second half when Juve let the hosts again into the sport with a comical personal purpose. Circati had come up from the again line to affix an assault and crossed to the again publish for substitute Sascha Britschgi. Cambiaso had him marked completely, however 5 yards from his personal internet he inexplicably tried some form of heel flick that solely managed to flick the ball up into his personal prime nook.
Earlier Juve groups below earlier managers would have slowly started shedding their grip on the sport mentally, however this new-look squad by no means appeared again over their shoulder at their pursuers. The third purpose got here, mockingly, from one other dead-ball scenario, a free kick on the left facet of the sector. Bremer headed the ball again throughout purpose the place it was met by McKennie. His shot hit the crossbar for a second time, however bounced again solely so far as David. He poked a header into the air that appeared prefer it was headed in anyway. however Bremer made sure no defender would recuperate and slammed it dwelling.
David wouldn’t be disadvantaged of his purpose for lengthy. Within the sixty fourth minute Concieção minimize inside and fired on purpose. Corvi dove to parry, however solely so far as David, who collected the rebound and scored one of many best targets of his life.
Commercial
That triggered a mass of substitutions from the Juve bench as Spalletti appeared to let a few of his extra necessary gamers kick up their heels. Juve soaked up just a few extra assaults within the waning minutes as they noticed out the sport, however have been nonetheless eager on much more. Within the 83rd minute, Loïs Openda missed an open purpose after Corvi got here out for a Kalulu cross however whiffed at it, and within the first minute of stoppage time was desperately unfortunate after he latched on to a dink excessive by (once more) Kalulu and completed far publish, however had the purpose chalked off for offside as a result of the semi-automatic offside system dinged him for a sliver of his heel being over the road (insert compulsory rant about IFAB and the offside rule right here).
A couple of minutes later, Forneau introduced the sport to a detailed, and Juve bounded off the Tardini’s grass with a implausible efficiency and three huge factors of their pockets.