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It is a new era at Juventus, with Maurizio Sarri taking the managerial helm in place of Massimiliano Allegri after five years of total domestic dominance by the latter.
With Serie A invincibility all but guaranteed, it is the continent where the perennial Scudetto champions have their attention turned, as they have borne a long 22-year wait for European glory.
The Bianconeri have realized as much, spending adequately in the transfer market to bring in quality players including the highly rated Matthijs de Ligt and Luca Pellegrini. There have also been requisite high-profile free transfers, with talented players like Aaron Ramsey, Adrian Rabiot and Gianluigi Buffon all arriving at Turin for nothing.
Given the quality of players at his disposal, Sarri would have no excuse not to bring European glory to the club.
While the 60-year-old holds all the authority to decide who starts for Juventus and the preferred tactics, here we attempt to construct the Bianconeri's ideal starting XI for next season.
Goalkeeper
Wojciech Szczesny
After eight seasons with Arsenal in the Premier League, Wojciech Szczesny signed for Juventus in the summer of 2017.
The 29-year-old spent his first season in Italy as understudy to the legendary Gianluigi Buffon, but the iconic shot-stopper's departure to PSG in 2018 paved the way for Szczesny to become a mainstay between the sticks for Juventus.
He performed admirably, making 41 appearances in all competitions as the Turin giants retained their Serie A title and made it to the last eight of the Champions League.
Buffon's return to Italy after just one season in France might suggest that Scczesny might lose his starting shirt, but that is highly unlikely as the Word Cup winner is no longer the force of nature he was. Moreover, the insertion of an eight-game Serie A clause in his Juventus contract (to break Paulo Maldini's record for most games in Serie A history) is indicative that Buffon himself knows he won't be first choice at the club.
Defenders
Left-back - Alex Sandro
Alex Sandro has spent the last four years at Juventus, after arriving at the club from FC Porto in the summer of 2015. The Brazilian international has made 157 appearances for the Bianconeri in all competitions, winning eight major trophies during his time in Turin.
Though not famed for his attacking output, Sandro is defensively astute. He has just 19 international caps owing to the presence of top talents in his position for Brazil including Marcelo and Filipe Luiz, but was part of their triumphant squad at the recently concluded Copa America.
The arrival of Luca Pellegrini from AS Roma would provide competition for the spot in the XI. But with the Italian international being just 20, Sarri is likely to stick with the more experienced Sandro as his starting left-back.
Left center-back - Giorgio Chiellini
Giorgio Chiellini is a bona fide Juventus legend, having been with the club since 2005. He has made 506 appearances in all competitions for the Italian giants to rank fifth in the all-time appearance list.
Despite the fact that he is 34, the World Cup winner's importance to Juventus cannot be overemphasized. That was evidenced by the side's struggles at the back in his absence last season.
Right center-back - Matthijs de Ligt
Juventus won the race to sign the highly rated Mattijs de Ligt, defeating at least five other top teams for the Dutchman's signature.
The 19-year-old has had a meteoric rise over the last two years. He became the youngest Ajax captain in history, while also becoming the first ever defender to win the prestigious Golden Boy award.
Though Leonardo Bonucci is still present at the club, the 32-year-old is no longer as dependable as he was. He made a number of uncharacteristic errors when tasked with leading the backline last season and for that reason, De Ligt is likely to be more favored.
Right-back - Danilo
Juventus completed one of the more bizarre transfer of the summer when they traded the highly rated Joao Cancelo for Danilo plus £27.6m.
The Brazilian international is a quality player in his own right, but the fact that he failed to nail down a regular starting spot at either Real Madrid or Manchester City is a bit of a sludge on his career.
However, seeing as Sarri went all out to get his signature, the 28-year-old is highly likely to feature prominently at right-back ahead of Italian international Mattia de Sciglio.
Midfielders
Deep lying playmaker - Miralem Pjanic
It is no secret that Sarri highly favors a technical ball distributor a la Jorginho to function as a deep-lying playmaker in his 'Sarriball' system. And in Miralem Pjanic, he has almost the perfect foil.
The Bosnian international is one of the best distributors of the ball, while also possessing the added threat of being dangerous from set-pieces. Pjanic would probably be the most important player for the functionality of Sarri's system at Juventus.
Central Midfield - Blaise Matuidi
There is arguably no more effective ball carrying midfielder than Blaise Matuidi today. The French international has perfected the art of box-to-box play; over the years his tireless displays and energetic runs have proved invaluable to PSG, France and now Juventus.
The World Cup winner would be tasked with doing more of the same under Sarri next season.
Central midfield - Adrian Rabiot
The third starting spot in midfield would be fiercely contested between two hugely talented midfielders who arrived Juventus on a free during the summer - Adrian Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey.
However, the former is better with the ball at his his feet and more technical, which are two traits highly valued by Sarri. The fact that injury ruled Ramsey out of playing a part in preseason has hardly helped his case.
Forwards
Left-Wing Forward - Cristiano Ronaldo
Having arrived for a club record fee of €100m last summer, Cristiano Ronaldo was expected to fire Juventus to Champions League glory. But despite not leading them to the Holy Grail, the Portuguese international still performed admirably, scoring 28 goals and assisting 10 times in all competitions.
His Champions League hat-trick against Atletico Madrid to overturn a 2-0 first leg deficit ranks among the all-time great individual displays.
Despite turning 35 next February, Ronaldo still looks as sharp as ever. He has shown his readiness to go again in preseason so far, and would once more be Juventus' main man for the big occasions.
Center-Forward - Gonzalo Higuain / Mauro Icardi
With just a few weeks to go until the transfer window is shut, the central striking role is the one department which Juventus have not sorted out.
There were strong indications that they were in pole position to sign Romelu Lukaku earlier in the summer. But the Belgian's imminent arrival at Inter Milan has quashed those speculations, paving the way for Mauro Icardi to depart.
New reports have emerged that they would once again go for want-away striker Icardi, having made inquiries for him last season. Ronaldo's apparent blessing for his arrival serves as further fuel to the rumor.
The fact that the club is yet to issue the number nine jersey to Gonzalo Higuain is indicative that they have plans to bring in someone else. But in the absence of any new arrival, the ex-Argentine international would lead the line.
Right-Wing Forward - Federico Bernadeschi
Another position which would be closely battled next season is for the one to complement Ronaldo on the right flank of attack to function as a right inverted winger, with both Douglas Costa and Federico Bernadeschi equal to the task.
Sarri is, however, likely to favor the Italian, as he is more versatile and offers more dynamism than his Brazilian counterpart. Indeed, Bernadeschi has played the full 90 minutes in each of Juventus' three pre-season fixtures till date.
Below is a graphical illustration of what we believe represents Juventus' ideal starting XI and formation for next season.
