\n<\/p>\n
There were questions as to whether Sunday\u2019s match between Juventus and Fiorentina would even be played. Severe weather in Tuscany had caused some severe flooding, but the danger subsided long enough for officials to give the game the go-ahead.<\/p>\n
Would that it had kept raining a few more days.<\/p>\n
A week after their 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Atalanta, the Bianconeri again found themselves on the back end of a thrashing. They allowed two goals in three minutes in the early phases of the first half \u2014 one was somewhat unfortunate, the other a complete defensive meltdown. Juve\u2019s attack simply couldn\u2019t muster a response, once again going the entire first half without putting a shot on target.<\/p>\n
An early goal in the second period from another defensive hash was the nail in the coffin, and Fiorentina simply saw the game out from there, with Juve\u2019s response as limp and listless as we\u2019ve ever seen from a Juventus team.<\/p>\n
The defensive meltdowns and complete lack of response in the 3-0 loss were discouraging signs for a team that needed points to defend its place in the top four. After the results of earlier in the day, they had been leapfrogged by Bologna, who now hold a one-point lead in the race for the final Champions League place. As the international break descends, the rest of Juventus\u2019 season has come into sharp focus.<\/p>\n
Thiago Motta had a surprisingly full deck to pick from. Arkadiusz Milik and Douglas Luiz were the only two active players unavailable to him. Despite having the likes of Francisco Concei\u00e7\u00e3o back in the fold, he picked a somewhat curious group to start the match. Michele Di Gregorio anchored the 4-2-3-1, with Timothy Weah, Pierre Kalulu, Renato Veiga, and Lloyd Kelly starting in front of him. Manuel Locatelli and Kh\u00e9phren Thuram stood in midfield, while Weston McKennie was handed yet another job to do starting on the right wing, along with Teun Koopmeiners and Nico Gonz\u00e1lez in support of Randal Kolo Muani.<\/p>\n
Raffaele Palladino also had a squad that was almost complete. The only absentees were the Andrea Colpani and the now-ineligible Eduardo Bove. Palladino employed a 3-5-1-1 that had more than one player with Juventus history. David De Gea started in goal, defended by Marin Pongracic, Luca Ranieri, and Pablo Mar\u00ed. Dod\u00f4 and Robin Gosens manned the wing-back positions. Midfield included two ex-Juve players, one of very recent vintage: Rolando Mandragora and Nicol\u00f2 Fagioli joined Danilo Cataldi in the middle. Albert Gudmundsson played just off Moise Kean up front.<\/p>\n