Predicted Juventus lineup vs AC Milan: Italian football returns with Coppa Italia Semifinal

LW: Cristiano Ronaldo

There were very few people in the world who were playing as well as Cristiano Ronaldo when world football came to a halt. He scored a goal in every single Serie A match he started from the start of December to the end of February before having the streak snapped against Inter in March. The scariest part of that run is that he might actually be primed to play even better now.

He’s hada few months to rest his legs, which could see him return to the electrifying pace we expect to see out of Ronaldo. He dealt with leg issues earlier in the season and seemed to have slowed a step, but this rest could completely change that.

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

If there is any positive to come out of Juve being forced to wait 3 months to finish the season, it’s the fact that we could be about to see Ronaldo at the highest level we’ve seen him yet at Juve. That should be a terrifying thought for every club left on Juve’s schedule.

ST: Paulo Dybala

Paulo Dybala has completely turned things around this season after a pretty awful year last year and now he’s likely to be rewarded with a huge contract. He’ll also be rewarded with regular starts for Juventus throughout the rest of the season. Early in the year, there was a bit of a competition between him and Higuain for this spot, but he has absolutely taken over lately and should be expected to start as frequently as possible. I expect to see him remind us of why Juve is signing him to a big extension in this match.

RW: Douglas Costa

It’s been rare for me to be able to confidently pick Douglas Costa for Juve’s starting lineup this season, but it looks like that could be changing. Maurizio Sarri appears to have changed Juve’s first-choice formation to the 4-3-3 and Douglas Costa should be the major beneficiary of that change. He is the clear best choice to play on the right wing for the squad and actually looked great on the wing early in the season. He’ll get his first chance at locking down this spot for the rest of the season when he starts against Milan on Friday.