Juventus: 5 players who must shine against Lecce

CM Rodrigo Bentancur

At this point, Juventus can’t really expect much from Miralem Pjanic, who seems to be on his way out of Turin anyway for the much better and younger Arthur Melo. So Juve need to blow a kiss, fire a gun, and lean on Rodrigo Bentancur before Arthur arrives from Barcelona.

Bentancur was a standout in both Coppa Italia fixtures but was less visible against Bologna. He’ll need to be better against Lecce, who have more talent in their squad. Assuming Bentancur starts on the right if Pjanic is in the middle without Aaron Ramsey in the lineup, Bentancur will go head-to-head with Lecce’s top scorer Marco Mancosu.

CM Adrien Rabiot

Since Blaise Matuidi will shift back to a defensive position as an emergency fill-in for the Bianconeri, Adrien Rabiot will get a second straight start as the left central midfielder. Like Miralem Pjanic, Rabiot is an experienced, underperforming midfielder who will probably play for another team in 2020-2021.

Rabiot has played significant minutes since Italian football’s return, but he’s been just as anonymous as usual. He needs to step up big-time against Lecce, because Cristiano Ronaldo requires better link-up play from the left-hand side, and Matuidi will need the defensive cover as an assurance. Plus, Rabiot will be going up against Lecce’s top assist provider in Jacopo Patriccione.