Juventus goes to Alkmaar tonight with Luciano Spalletti forced into another emergency reshuffle, but also with a chance to turn the mood around. Douglas Luiz will be rested, Cambiaso is set to start from the opening whistle and Juventus is trying to navigate the match with 11 unavailable players.
That is why the search around Juventus Vs Az has sharpened today: this is not just another Europa League tie, but a night that could lift Juventus to 10 points if it leaves Alkmaar with a positive result. Spalletti is leaning on Kolo Muani in attack, with Koopmeiners and Sarr forming the midfield pair, while Woltemade remains a strong candidate for the forward line and Boga is another option going into the attacking phase.
The scale of the absences is what makes the selection so difficult. With 11 players missing, every choice carries more weight than usual, and Spalletti has been pushed toward a side built around fit players rather than a settled hierarchy. Even Douglas Luiz’s rest is part of that calculation, not a luxury but a way to manage a squad that cannot absorb many more losses before the structure breaks down.
AZ is not offering an easy backdrop for recovery. The Dutch side has won two of its three Europa League matches and sits fifth in its domestic league, which is enough to explain why this trip demands control as well as courage. Juventus need both if it wants to stay alive in the top end of the giant standings table, where the first two editions already showed how margins can decide who survives the league phase and who falls behind.
Spalletti knows that better than most. Four seasons earlier, he was linked to a Napoli win at the Amsterdam Arena in a game that produced six goals, and that memory hangs over another evening in the same part of Europe. The difference now is that Juventus is not chasing style points; it is trying to rebuild credibility while carrying an emergency list of absences and protecting a campaign that still has room to become the club’s biggest opportunity of the season.
There is also a wider club message behind the trip. Giovanni Carnevali’s remarks to the Assembly of Shareholders are being read as backing for the project, even as the team is asked to perform under pressure. If Juventus gets a result in Alkmaar, the conversation changes quickly; if it does not, the absences will be remembered as much as the ambition. Either way, Sunday evening’s match against Fiorentina is waiting next, and this one will say a lot about how far Spalletti can push a depleted side before the season demands more than adjustments.
