The turnaround was always going to be quick between Juventus’ second Derby d’Italia and the first leg of the Champions League play-off round tie against Galatasaray in Istanbul. That was vision when the fixture list first came out, and that is most definitely still the view now considering Juve made their way to Turkiye less than 48 hours after the fireworks — and not the good kind by any means — at San Siro on Saturday.
But as much as the Derby d’Italia is almost always going to be important, Juventus’ next 180-plus minutes over the next eight days are just as crucial, if not more considering what is at stake.
Juventus, just like last season, are one of the 16 teams playing this week and next to save their Champions League lives for the 2025-26 season. The goal is to extend things at least one more step in the knockout rounds.
The hope is that it doesn’t end at the same spot in the competition as it did 12 months ago.
But unlike last season, Juventus are away from home for the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie. And rather than it being a Dutch opponent in which they had already played (and beaten) during the league phase, it is now a Turkish opponent that have a lot of familiar names who are well-versed in the ways of Serie A. Tuesday night’s matchup with Galatasaray will see Juventus and Luciano Spalletti try and stop a team led by strikers that he has coached, including a certain Nigerian target man who was the driving force behind the Tuscan tactician’s title-winning season in Naples. Now, as their former club sit on the sidelines and out of the Champions League all together thanks to happened on the final day of the league phase, it’s now Spalletti’s task of setting up his team to slow down the likes of Victor Osimhen and, in the year 2026, Mauro Icardi.
And all of this is going down three whole days after the drama — and none of it good — against Inter Milan in the Derby d’Italia on Saturday night.
But what happened against Inter is not something that Spalletti thinks will carry over into a very important Champions League tie despite the very short turnaround from one fixture to the next.
“We are not bringing what happened in the previous match in here,” Spalletti said during Monday’s pre-match press conference, “but rather what we are going to do: it’s better to clear the air and step back onto the pitch with the right enthusiasm and the joy of facing great opponents. This is a match that everyone rightly feels deeply; the boys are doing well and the group is at its best in front of a setting like this.”
In a way, though, it feels like there are probably two main ways this can go for Spalletti’s squad in Turkey.
- Option No. 1: Juve come out and look every bit pissed off that they rightfully should be after the loss to Inter despite the fact that he said they aren’t carrying over what happened over the weekend.
- Option No. 2: Juve look every bit emotionally spent after what happened Saturday night.
But that isn’t something Spalletti said will
“We’ve come here to play in the opposition’s half, then we’ll see whether we manage to do that or not,” he said
Not that hearing Spalletti say that is going to take many people aback. He is a man who wants to play his style of ball no matter who is available, no matter what shape his squad is in and no matter who his team is facing. Could it all be a deke and suddenly we’re seeing Juve playing good old-fashioned catenaccio against Galatasaray? I mean, maybe, that’s always going to be possible — especially with the short-handed options Spalletti has in attack on Tuesday night.
Regardless, Juventus will have to slow down a Galatasaray squad that are carrying plenty of wind in their sails in recent weeks. They’ve been winning, scoring a whole lot of goals and not allowing much of anything in terms of the opposition scoring. In their last four wins, Gala has outscored their opponents by a whopping 15-2 margin. And while they haven’t exactly been heavy hitters in terms of opponents, that’s still proof that Galatasaray have every reason to like their chances and the way they’re playing coming into Tuesday’s first leg.
A key component to those recent victories has been just how they’ve started, scoring the first goal in five of those six games and clearly coming out on the front foot and not letting up on the gas. That is something that Spalletti will have combat from the get-go — and the simple fact that the stadium in Istanbul is going to be an absolute madhouse with an atmosphere that Juve’s rarely seen this season.
What happens over those subsequent 90 minutes is anybody’s guess. But if Juventus can survive the trip to Turkiye, avoid disaster and give themselves a fighting chance to get to the UCL Round of 16 next week in Turin, then that is going to feel like a pretty good night at a place that brings back some not-so-fond memories for long-time Juventus supporters like yours truly.
At least it looks like the potential snow will hold off until Wednesday. That’s a win right there.
- The big news ahead of Juventus’ squad leaving for Turkiye is that Jonathan David was not a part of that group. Instead, the Canadian striker, who has held down the starting role in Dusan Vlahovic”s absence, will miss Tuesday night’s game due to a reported groin injury following the Derby d’Italia loss.
- Other than that, the two other players who are missing out due to injury are not a surprise, with Vlahovic, Emil Holm and Arek Milik also back in Turin watching their Juve teammates take on Galatasaray.
- Khephren Thuram is back in the squad after missing out on facing his brother Marcus and Inter this past weekend. However, when it comes to Thuram’s actual availability, Spalletti was rather coy, saying that he will have to “assess (Thuram’s) condition” ahead of Tuesday’s game.
- Who plays in midfield if Thuram isn’t good to go from the start? It looks like another potential start for Teun Koopmeiners.
- When asked if Loïs Openda will start in place of the injured David, Spalletti said that he “needs to think about it.”
- In a likely related note, Spalletti was very complimentary of Weston McKennie and his versatility on the field. That was not just because McKennie was sitting right next to Spalletti during the pre-match press conference. Instead, he was speaking about McKennie’s form and how previous statements regarding the American’s ability to potential play as a forward could play into plans for facing Galatasaray. “He’s a player who has the characteristics to play with his back to goal and also knows how to turn things around in a short space of time because he’s fast and technical,” Spalletti said of McKennie.
- Just as we saw last season with January additions, Jérémie Boga has been added to the Champions League squad following his arrival on loan from Nice.
For the first time in his Juventus career, the Bianconeri’s young Turkish star will be playing on home turf.
You think he’s going to be a itching to impress in front of a crowd that will turn the tables and be rooting for him in a few weeks as Turkiye try to secure their spot in this summer’s World Cup?
Yeah, we’re talking about the person that you probably figured we will be talking about with Juve in Istanbul.
ISTANBUL, TURKEY – FEBRUARY 16: Kenan Yildiz of Juventus during the team walkaround at Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi on February 16, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images) Juventus FC via Getty Images
Kenan Yildiz playing on Turkish soil is only something that has previously been reserved for when he represents Turkiye on the international stage. But on Tuesday night, Yildiz will be facing Turkish opposition for the first time as a Juventus player — and that alone is reason for the young No. 10 to have his adrenaline going a little bit more than it usually does for a big European tie. Then throw in
I know it’s been a week and a half since the last time Yildiz featured in this spot, but I think it’s safe to say that this was always going to be the case no matter if he signed his new contract when he did or if it happened in March or April. This is Kenan’s homecoming of sorts despite the fact that, technically, he was born in Germany.
Plus, there’s also this: By his ever-growing standards, the last couple of games have been relatively quiet.
I know, I know. Things suddenly changed for Yildiz — and Juventus’ squad as a whole — when Kalulu got sent off in the 42nd minute. It became much less of the game that Juve were playing before the red card and much more of working off the ball in the defensive phase compared to what he usually does. (And that’s a lot to begin with.)
But you know that Yildiz, playing in a stadium that he knows well from his childhood and the early stages of his national team career, is going to want to impress on top of trying to guide his team that’s short-handed in attack to the best possible result they can achieve in Istanbul.
You know it wouldn’t be a little extra for Yildiz to score his first goal and flash his star celebration for the first time since signing his fancy new contract in Turkiye? That feels like the second best place than in front of the curva at the Allianz. (Although I’m guessing Saturday night at San Siro would have been up there, too.)
It sounds like a pretty nice way for Juventus to bounce back from all of the stupidity we saw over the weekend.
When: Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026.
Where: Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex, Istanbul, Turkey.
Official kickoff time: 8:45 p.m. local time in Istanbul, Turkey; 6:45 p.m. in Italy and across Europe, 5:45 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 1:45 p.m. Eastern time, 11:45 a.m. Central time, 9:45 a.m. Pacific time.
Television: TUDN USA, UniMás (United States); TNT Sports 1 (United Kingdom); Sky Sport Uno, Sky Sport 251 (Italy).
Online/Streaming: Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video USA, TUDN.com, TUDN app, Univision NOW (United States); DAZN Canada; fuboTV Canada (Canada); Amazon Prime Video UK (United Kingdom); Sky Go Italia (Italy).
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