Juventus Prepares for Derby d’Italia Against Inter
Luciano Spalletti sat down in front of the cameras in Perth and did what he often does best: cut straight through the noise.
Inter, he said, are still the benchmark.
“These are the sorts of games that help you understand a lot about the mentality of the team and whether or not we're working in the right direction,” the Juventus coach told reporters on the eve of Saturday’s Derby d’Italia friendly against the Nerazzurri. “We just want to play a good game against the strongest side in our league and learn as many things as possible to get to their level.”
A pre-season match in August, on the other side of the world, yet Spalletti framed it as a measuring stick. Not a show. A test.
Inter as the standard, Juve as the learners
The venue is Perth, kick-off set for 12.00 BST, 21.00 local time. The billing is friendly. The rivalry never is.
Spalletti made no attempt to dilute Inter’s status or the size of the task. “Obviously, Inter are a very strong team like Chelsea, so we will need to be a team in every moment of the game because Inter will find advantages if we're not compact.”
That word – compact – has followed him throughout his career. Here, it comes with a warning: switch off for a moment, and Inter punish you. Even in pre-season.
For Juventus, the Derby d’Italia arrives in the middle of a busy summer, a squad in transition and a coach trying to weld together something coherent while crossing time zones and juggling workloads.
Yildiz to get his chance
One of the main questions circled around Kenan Yildiz, the young attacker whose rise has electrified Juventus fans and complicated Spalletti’s attacking plans in the best possible way.
“He will play more than he did in the game against Chelsea,” Spalletti confirmed. That alone will sharpen interest in Saturday’s game. Yildiz is not just another promising youngster now; he is a genuine selection dilemma.
Spalletti laid bare the reality of this tour. “We were without three or four players in training today to manage their workloads and the fatigue that is accumulating. It's not easy to organise these sorts of events. They take extra effort and we'll have to discuss it over the next few days to see how we've recovered.”
The message is clear: minutes will be managed, even for the brightest talents.
As for Yildiz’s status for the league opener, Spalletti is keeping the door open without slamming it shut in either direction. “I will see after the game tomorrow whether he will be a starter (in the league), but I think I will let him play for a half, or almost a half.”
For a 19-year-old, that’s not a teaser. That’s a platform.
Circati talk cooled
Transfer chatter followed, as it always does at this time of year. This time the name was Alessandro Circati, the Parma centre-back linked with a move to Turin.
Spalletti acknowledged the defender’s quality but drew a firm line under the rumour. “He's a promising young player who has shown a lot of great qualities and he could also be of interest to any club. But right now, we only have a couple of strong routes in our sights and those do not concern him. We can't create alternative situations at the moment because we have a very large squad.”
The subtext is unmistakable: Juventus are not shopping for the sake of it. The squad is heavy, the pathways are defined, and Circati, for now, is on the outside of those plans.
Goals by committee, not by star
If there is a lingering doubt around Juventus, it lies in the goals column. Dusan Vlahovic has gone. In his place, Randal Kolo Muani and Jeff Ekhator have arrived, with Kerim Alajbegovic also added to the attacking mix.
The obvious question followed: is this group missing a guaranteed 20-goal striker?
Spalletti pushed back on the premise. “I think we've signed players who collectively will be able to exceed those numbers. It's not important to have somebody who scores 20 goals.”
For him, the calendar matters as much as the names on the teamsheet. “This year, the season will be characterised by the fact that it will be played on Thursdays and Sundays, it will be difficult to always play with the same players. The Europa League engages you even more than the Champions League.”
That last line lands with weight. Thursday-Sunday football demands rotation, depth, and adaptability. A single talismanic scorer is a luxury; a spread of contributors is a necessity.
“Even without a physical centre-forward, we have Ekhator who has a few of those characteristics, Kolo Muani commands the area. It's a bit of an open situation, but with the players we have available, with what we've done on the market, we'll be able to make up for it through everyone's collective work.
“Alajbegovic is somebody who can score goals. We want to help Kolo Muani's numbers. We're quite calm for the moment.”
Calm, but not complacent. Spalletti is betting on variety, not on a single saviour.
Bastoni, bad blood and a cool response
The final topic dragged the conversation back to the last time Spalletti faced Inter, and to one of the more contentious flashpoints: Alessandro Bastoni’s dive and his infamous celebration of Pierre Kalulu’s wrongful sending off.
The memory still stings for many. Spalletti refused to add fuel.
“It will be simple, we will continue to do what we did after that game. We didn't create any big aftermath, we didn't talk about the players' behaviour on the pitch.”
No revenge narrative, no public score-settling. Just a thin, deliberate line drawn under it.
The focus, he insisted, lies elsewhere. “We just want to play a good game against the strongest side in our league and learn as many things as possible to get to their level.”
On Saturday in Perth, the Derby d’Italia will not decide a title, a trophy or a season. But for Spalletti and Juventus, it offers something just as valuable at this stage: a clear look at how far they still have to climb – and whether this rebuilt side is truly ready to chase Inter down.
