The squad and club representatives arrived in Parma on Sunday. They returned to Turin after learning that their Serie A clash at Stadio Ennio Tardini, with the entire nation in mourning. Pope Francis, 88, was born in Argentina and his father was an Italian immigrant from Piedmont.
As well as four Serie A matches postponed, the Serie B and Serie C fixtures were rescheduled on top of lesser league matches throughout Italy.
Juventus will tackle now Parma on 23 April (6.30pm), the same time as the other top tier games that were due to be played on Easter Monday. On Wednesday Cagliari will host Fiorentina, Genoa face Lazio and Torino play Udinese.
Yildiz is key
The delay allows Juve virtually 48 hours to get pivotal player Kenan Yildiz match fit, with the Turkey international having suffered an impact injury during training last Wednesday.
Yildiz has shone under interim head coach Igor Tudor, scoring twice in his three appearances. The Croatian seems to have helped the 19-year-old get his groove back, following some indifferent displays under Thiago Motta this year.
Tudor, who has five more matches at the helm after the Parma showdown, has been handed the objective to secure Champions League soccer next term. To achieve that feat, he needs to steer the Bianconeri to a top four finish.
Bologna leapfrogged over Juventus to take fourth position, following their hard-fought 1-0 triumph over league leaders Inter Milan on Sunday. Napoli sit in second place after an edgy 1-0 success over Monza on Saturday, while Atalanta remain third thanks to Sunday’s 1-0 win at stuttering AC Milan.
The Bianconeri squad had a full afternoon training session on Monday, and will explore their scoring issues from set pieces again at their Continassa base on Tuesday before setting off for the Parma clash. Tudor has time to reassess the fitness of Yildiz.
Draw specialists
Precious points are required at different ends of the table for Parma, who are relegation candidates, and continental competition chasing Juventus. These two teams have drawn a total of 27 Serie A matches from 64 games this term, but Tudor will not be satisfied at picking up just a single point.
After rock bottom Monza visit the Allianz Stadium next Sunday, Juve travel to tackle two rivals for a top four finish. Tudor’s troops visit buoyant Bologna (4 May) then face Lazio (11 May).
The games against lowly Parma and Monza offer Tudor to rest Yildiz before the tussles against Bologna and Lazio. His next two matches present an opportunity for Tudor to tweak his tactical system and introduce new players, such as pairing Kolo Muani upfront with Dusan Vlahovic.