Juventus were due to face Lecce at the Stadio Via del Mare at 17.00 GMT, or 18.00 CET. Before the Serie A away match, Luciano Spalletti spoke about an injury-hit squad, the forward pairing of Nick Woltemade and Randal Kolo Muani, and Teun Koopmeiners.
Injuries before the Lecce trip
Kenan Yildiz, Francisco Conceicao, Manuel Locatelli, Khephren Thuram, Jeff Ekhator and Kamil Grabara were already out of action. Football Italia said Nico Gonzalez and Zeki Celik sustained problems during the 2-2 Europa League draw with Rennes on Thursday. Football Italia said that meant only 17 outfield players made the trip to Lecce.
Spalletti on the absences
Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia: "The injuries are not an issue that can help us, so we need to focus on what we can do, and talking about injuries won’t help me get a better result."
Woltemade and Kolo Muani together
Football Italia said Woltemade and Kolo Muani started together for the first time against Rennes. Replied Spalletti when asked about Woltemade: "I think he played well against Rennes, it was a good tandem with Kolo Muani, in that they were not just separate elements, but also working together. It was the eighth time they had played together, though."
Spalletti said: "Playing together tonight and on Thursday, the question after that is what if we have more injuries? You can always play with two strikers if you have four available, but in my view it is logical to do the other way round and have someone to make an impact off the bench. They seem to want this, but it’s not that starting them together is definitely the right idea."
Koopmeiners and his chance
Concluded Spalletti: "I finally saw Koop play on an international level, the kind of level he has within him, because he played for strong teams before, he covered many roles, can run hard, bring substance and rarely lose his physical intensity. He might drop off in his choices and a certain mental fragility, because I see no other reason why his performances dip this way. This gives him another opportunity to create an important space for himself within this team."