Cristiano Ronaldo will make his debut for Juventus on Saturday, as the Bianconeri open the new Serie A campaign with a trip to Verona to face Chievo.
The Portuguese swapped Madrid for Turin after completing a surprising $114 million move earlier in the summer, which immediately raised the interest around Serie A to a level not seen in a decade.
Fans in the U.S. wanting to watch Ronaldo make his bow in the Italian league can choose from the following options.
Kick-off time: 12 p.m. ET
TV Channels: ESPN +
Live streaming: ESPN player, fuboTV and Sling Blue
Odds: Betway has Chievo Verona at 12/1 (+1200.00 in moneyline terms), while the draw is at 19/4 and Juventus are the overwhelming favorites at 1/4.
Match preview:
Cristiano Ronaldo's debut is obviously the main talking point ahead of Saturday and it could hardly be otherwise. The Portuguese's arrival in Serie A is not just a landmark moment for Juventus but has brought the league as a whole an amount of coverage it last enjoyed during in the 1980s and 1990s.
Having won the last eight league titles in a row – as well as the last four Italian cups – Juventus would have been odds-on to retain their crown even without Ronaldo, but with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner in their ranks they established themselves among the favorites to win the Champions League.
"This season we have the ambition to win the Champions League," Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri was quoted as saying by The Guardian. "After two finals lost [over the past four years] we are trying to finally bring it home."
Aside from Ronaldo, Juventus have added Joao Cancelo from Valencia for $46 million and made Douglas Costa's loan move permanent after paying $45.6 million to Bayern Munich.
Emre Can arrived from Liverpool from a free transfer, while Leonardo Bonucci returned from AC Milan after just one season, with Gonzalo Higuain and Mattia Caldara going the other way.
Chievo, on the other hand, will be desperate to avoid playing the role of sacrificial lamb they have been seemingly destined to since the fixtures were announced.
But history is not on their side as the Veronese have lost 11 and drawn one of their last 12 meetings against Juventus. Chievo finished 13th last season, buoyed by a solid run of form at home, where they claimed seven of their 10 wins.
They'll need their fans behind them if they are to spoil Ronaldo's big day.
About the writer
Dan Cancian is currently a reporter for Newsweek based in London, England. Prior to joining Newsweek in January 2018, he was a news and business reporter at International Business Times UK. Dan has also written for The Guardian and The Observer.
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