Juventus’ Coppa Italia run begins against one of the many clubs in which they have a draw against in Serie A.

A lot has happened at Juventus between May 15 and the present day as we sit here a week before Christmas. The roster that faced Atalanta in last season’s Coppa Italia final in Rome has been drastically turned over, and of course the man who is now managing said squad is different from the one who lifted the trophy following an eventful night in the Italian capital.

All of that is to say that the Coppa Italia is very much back — and a little earlier than it has been in previous years.

Thanks in large part to the Champions League’s new league phase having more games compared to the previous group stage, Juventus will now jump into the Coppa Italia fray a month earlier than we have become accustomed to. With it comes Juve facing a team that they have already faced this season — although that result is very much not one to really boast about despite the lack of success that Cagliari have had in the first half of the 2024-25 campaign.

Although, there is a catch to all of this: Cagliari just so happens to be one of the 10 teams that Juventus have drawn against already this season. So, as much as these round of 16 ties have a history of being matchups that overwhelmingly favor Juventus, we have evidence to the contrary that Thiago Motta’s squad have already struggled to put Cagliari away this season.

So that basically means one of the extremely obvious themes of Tuesday night’s matchup in Turin is this: Will Juventus be able to actually beat a team that they have already draw against once this season?

It’s the first time that we find Juve in this kind of spot this season with the Coppa Italia arriving a little earlier than is customary on the schedule. And with Juventus having so many draws, it’s something that we’ll probably be saying once the midway point of the Serie A season comes and goes and the second half of the calendar begins.