Juventus have confirmed their pre-season schedule over the weekend, with three friendlies against a range of opponents from Germany, France and Spain.
It was confirmed that Juventus will take part in a training camp at adidas HQ in Herzogenaurach, Germany between Saturday 20th and Friday 26th of July, with Thiago Motta’s first game in the Juventus dugout taking place on the 26th. Juventus will face 1. FC Nürnberg at their home ground, the Max-Morlock Stadion in Nuremberg, with a 5 PM CEST kick-off.
Juventus will then travel back to Italy, to face French side Stade Brestois on Saturday the 3rd of August. Brest come into the tie after a historic 23/24 season where they claimed an unlikely third-place finish in Ligue 1, qualifying for the Champions League for the first European campaign in the club's history. The match, held at the Adriatico Stadium in Pescara, is a 9 PM CEST kick-off.
Three days later, Juventus will return to Turin for an open-door training session will take place at the Allianz Stadium. Traditionally, this session was always held in the municipality of Villar Perosa, an important location for the Agnelli family being the birthplace of Giovanni Agnelli, the grandfather of Gianni and Umberto Agnelli.
Usually, they would train on the pitch of the delightful town of Val Chisone, a town of just over four thousand inhabitants a few kilometers outside of Turin, but the unflinching modernity of top football clubs has left Villar Perosa in the dust.
The session will see the Juve first team training with a selection of players from the Juventus Next Gen and the Bianconeri Under-19 teams. Of note in the youth ranks is defender Nicolo Savona, who, according to Mirko Di Natale, is expected to join the first team for the full pre-season schedule. With the impending departure of Mattia De Sciglio, Motta has decided to give the Italy U20 right back a chance while adding depth to the full-back department as a backup to Danilo.
Juventus’ final pre-season fixture will take place on Sunday, the 11th of August, at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. The 3 PM CEST kick-off will see Juve clash with the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Alvaro Morata, and Jan Oblak as they take on Spanish giants Atletico Madrid. Curiously, this will not be the first time Atlético Madrid and Juventus have locked horns in Sweden. In 2019, the two sides faced off at the Friends Arena in Stockholm. Despite Juventus’ side featuring Cristiano Ronaldo that day, it would be another Portuguese player who stole the headlines with João Félix scoring twice to give Atletico the 2-1 win that day.
Thiago Motta will be eager to use the pre-season to implement his drastically different coaching techniques from predecessor Max Allegri and bed in the multiple new signings expected, but it’s not the only change around Juventus this summer. June 30th saw the end of Juve’s sponsorship deal with Jeep, which stretched back to 2012. Jeep’s owners Stellantis, formed when Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the PSA Group merged, are part owned by the Agnelli family who have a 78.8% stake in Juventus FC.
With the club seeking to balance the books, a decision was made not to renew the Jeep sponsorship agreement for the 24/25 season. Jeep’s sales have dropped significantly over the last few years, and Juve's seeking a higher sponsorship fee has left the Old Lady without a shirt sponsor for the moment. The Agnelli family was spotted at the F1 Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia in March, with rumours swirling of some sort of Saudi company positioning themselves to become front-of-shirt sponsors, but nothing concrete has emerged yet with Juventus set to complete their pre-season campaign with a sponsorless shirt.
Regardless of who eventually ends up on the front of the shirt, it will be a joy to see the black and white back in action, as Thiago Motta looks to get his tenure off to the best possible start.
Full Pre-Season Schedule
26 July v 1. FC Nürnberg (Max-Morlock Stadion,,Nuremberg)
3 Aug v Stade Brestois (Adriatico Stadium, Pescara)
11 Aug v Atletico Madrid (Ullevi Stadium, Göteborg)