Bodybuilding: Vlahovic is not at his best, Spalletti still wants him to start against Viola

According to "Gazzetta dello Sport", although Vlahovic was not in the best physical condition when he returned from the Serbian national team, Juventus coach Spalletti still hopes that the former will start against his old club.

I experienced back discomfort during the Turin Derby and muscle problems caused by the intensive schedule, which affected my trip to the national team. But Dusan Vlahovich still persisted. After the alarm was lifted, he had set his sights on the game that was destined to belong to him-or, in other words, the focus match that was destined from the day he decided to end his departure from Florence and join Juventus.

The Serbian forward has recently adopted conservative treatment: receiving physical therapy at the Continassa base and only doing a very small amount of ball training. The attacking system built by Luciano Spalletti uses Vlahovic as the fulcrum of balance: occupying the opponent's penalty area and cooperating with his midfield teammates to participate in the organization when needed - this has become the task of the center forward who has become indispensable.

Therefore, even though the center forward is not in the best physical condition, the Juventus coach still intends to rely on his No. 9 player in this extremely critical away game in Florence on Saturday afternoon. Vlahovic will start training with his teammates today and will gradually adapt to the complete training plan formulated by Juventus' new coaching team from tomorrow.

After experiencing the twists and turns of the transfer in January 2022, Vlahovic has never scored in Florence: he returned to Florence four times as an opponent, the last time he sat on the bench for the entire game, and twice he only came on as a substitute. The only game he played for 90 minutes was the Italian Cup. Still zero goals scored.

Spalletti must consider the rotation between the league and the Champions League - Juventus will once again have a Champions League away trip next Tuesday, traveling to the cold places north of the Arctic Circle and northern Norway. This means that he needs almost two different lineups, and the uncertainty of artificial turf cannot be underestimated: in a town with only 50,000 residents, the field conditions often become an additional ally for the home team and the biggest hidden danger for the visiting team.

In other words, the risk of injury must be taken into consideration when playing on unfamiliar and slippery surfaces. So the rotation policy will also apply to Vlahovic: Spalletti's current plan is to start him in Fiorentina and rest him on the artificial turf pitch where Bode shines (potentially taxing his back and muscles) - at least not to start him.

Vlahovic's previous news of possible injury had worried Juventus: it was only after the completion of the instrument examination that the risk of long-term absence due to serious muscle problems was ruled out. The Serbian striker had previously endured back pain to play in the Turin Derby.

Even when the Serbian national team experienced the most painful night in sports-missing the 2026 World Cup qualifying play-offs in June, Vlahovic did not flinch. For this center whose contract is about to expire, the only way now is to prove himself and become a key player on the Juventus stage.

The club's new CEO Damian Comolli has agreed to decide on the Serbian's future at the end of the season, but his future is destined to be determined earlier, because Vlahovic will be free to sign with other clubs from February 1.

This is the fifth time Vlahovich has returned to Florence as an opponent. This city has been disillusioned due to the team's sluggish performance this season: Florence's home court will not be as full as in previous years. Viola and the fans face other problems: the only significance of defeating Juventus this time is to obtain key points and gain breathing space for the team to achieve a breakthrough in the league record.