Juventus have played the first 180 minutes of a very busy summer friendly schedule. (If only the summer mercato was as busy as the team will be over the next couple of weeks, right? I'll let you decide that for yourself.) And because of a handful of players having staggered returns from their respective post-World Cup breaks and now a few other players having to deal with preseason ailments, Juve manager Luciano Spalletti has had to fill the void with the limited number of in-house options he has.
Or, as we saw over the weekend against Standard Liège, with academy players who might normally only see minutes late in friendlies as the senior players build up their stamina. Spalletti rolled out a starting lineup on Saturday that was full of primavera and Next Gen players — a good opportunity for those same teenagers but also a sign of where this team currently is as players work their way back into the squad.
Some of those youngsters, in no particular order, to appear — and even make a start — in Juventus' first two friendlies of the summer have been:
Adin Ličina
Augusto Owusu

#summer