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Predicted Juventus lineup vs Parma: Buffon breaks Maldini’s record

By John Vaccaro

GENOA, ITALY - DECEMBER 18: Juventus player Gianluigi Buffon during the Serie A match between UC Sampdoria and Juventus at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on December 18, 2019 in Genoa, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images)
GENOA, ITALY - DECEMBER 18: Juventus player Gianluigi Buffon during the Serie A match between UC Sampdoria and Juventus at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on December 18, 2019 in Genoa, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images) /
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GENOA, ITALY – DECEMBER 18: Juventus player Gianluigi Buffon during the Serie A match between UC Sampdoria and Juventus at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on December 18, 2019 in Genoa, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images)
GENOA, ITALY – DECEMBER 18: Juventus player Gianluigi Buffon during the Serie A match between UC Sampdoria and Juventus at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on December 18, 2019 in Genoa, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images) /

Juventus took a short break from the Serie A schedule on Wednesday, but now they’ll return to defending their top spot in the league.

They head into Wednesday’s match riding a 4-match Serie A win streak, including a 2-1 win on the road against Roma and a 4-0 demolition of Cagliari in their two most recent league matches. They followed up with a 4-0 destruction of Udinese on Wednesday in the Coppa Italia. They currently find themselves 2 points ahead of Inter for first place in the league.

Parma has been surprisingly successful in Serie A this season. They are currently in 7th place in spite of some hit-or-miss recent form. Their most recent league matches featured a 2-1 win over Napoli, a draw against Brescia, an embarrassing 5-0 loss against Atalanta, and a 2-0 win over Lecce. Earlier this week, they were knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Roma in a 2-0 home loss. Even a point for them in this match would be seen as a positive as they chase a spot in the Europa League.

Juventus will once again be shorthanded for this match. They have Giorgio Chiellini, Sami Khedira, and Merih Demiral all dealing with long-term knee injuries. Now Mattia De Sciglio is also dealing with an injury and Rodrigo Bentancur has one match left on his suspension. Juve will be in their usual 4-3-1-2 formation for the match.

GK: Gianluigi Buffon

The day has finally come. Gianluigi Buffon returned to Juventus with the intention of breaking Paolo Maldini’s record for career appearances in Serie A and now he’ll finally do it on Sunday. The fact that he started Wednesday’s match made me a little bit skeptical that he would get to start again on Sunday, but I picked this day as the day he would break the record a few weeks ago and I’m sticking with it. It just makes too much sense.

His career started at Parma, so he would get to celebrate the occasion with the only two Italian clubs he has ever played for. Maybe Juve has other plans, but I have to believe that they’ll seize that opportunity for Buffon’s record-breaking appearance.

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