Juventus projected lineup for clash with Napoli for 1st place

LW: Cristiano Ronaldo

Everything that has happened with Ronaldo up to this point in the season doesn’t matter anymore. Juve brought him in specifically to beat the Napolis of the world. He has arguably played even better this season than his 3 goals and 2 assists would indicate, but nobody will remember any of it after this weekend. If he scores against Napoli he’ll be a hero. If he struggles the concerns fans expressed when he hadn’t scored will instantly be rekindled. He has played well recently Juve and he will need to carry that into this match. Matches like these are where legends are born and it will be interesting to see if Ronaldo can continue to build his legacy in the biggest match he has played so far with Juve.

ST: Mario Mandzukic

More from Serie A

• Update on Leonardo Bonucci’s legal action against Juventus
• Romelu Lukaku and the betrayal of Inter Milan
• Report: Piotr Zieliński set to sign a new deal with SSC Napoli
• The man rumored to replace Kim Min-Jae: Who is Napoli target Robin Le Normand?
• Are Napoli finally Scudetto-bound? It sure looks like it

I’m sure there will be plenty of people that want to see Paulo Dybala get the start up front with Ronaldo in this match because of how they performed against Bologna. However, this is Mandzukic’s spot for right now. Juve will have two wings and two full backs who constantly send in dangerous crosses in this match and Mandzukic is a much better target for this crosses than Dybala. He has also had a much better year overall than Dybala has and his defensive effort really separates him from Dybala here. He will constantly pressure Napoli’s defense and make it difficult for them to build out of the back. Mandzukic has a history of showing up for the big games and Juve will be hoping that continues in this match.

RW: Federico Bernardeschi

Federico Bernardeschi has been great for Juve this year. It really softens the blow of not having Douglas Costa here. He has shown time and again this season that he is an extremely dangerous option on the right wing. This will be the first time he is trusted to start a big match for Juve and I don’t they’ll regret it. He has shown massive improvements throughout the season and it’s reasonable to believe he will continue to improve throughout the year.

I for one am really excited to see what Bernardeschi is capable of in the biggest match he has played for Juve.