Juventus without seven first-teamers for Atalanta clash
Juventus will be heavily depleted when they take on Atalanta, and Thiago Motta's former coach Gian Piero Gasperini, in Serie A.
Juventus will be without seven players, including Bremer, Arkadiusz Milik and Douglas Luiz, for their Serie A clash with Atalanta on Sunday.
Thiago Motta's Bianconeri are on a five-match winning streak in the league, sitting fourth in the table with 52 points.
They are just three adrift of third-placed Atalanta, who have kept four successive clean sheets in Serie A for the first time since 2000, though two of those matches were goalless draws.
Juventus have not beaten La Dea in a home league game since March 2018, and their bid to close the gap to their rivals will be hampered by a series of fitness concerns.
"(Jonas) Rouhi, (Juan) Cabal, Bremer, Milik, Douglas Luiz, (Francisco) Conceicao and (Nicolo) Savona will not be there," Motta said on Saturday.
"The others are available and ready to start the match or to enter the match in progress."
Motta emphasised the importance of a robust defensive effort against Atalanta, whose 45 open-play goals in Serie A this season are the most of any team, but he also knows they must give adequate service to forwards Dusan Vlahovic and Randal Kolo Muani.
"Tomorrow we will have to be a very solid defence. Up to today, we have done very well because the forwards have done very well," Motta said.
"Our idea doesn't change; we'll see if Vlahovic or Kolo Muani will play from the start."
Sunday's fixture will be special for midfielder Teun Koopmeiners as he faces his former club, but the Dutchman – who scored in Juve's 2-0 win over Verona on Monday – will be under pressure to continue his improved form.
"There will always be criticism and it is part of this job," Motta said. "In the last match, he came on very well and also scored a goal.
"I'm very happy for him because we live to score goals... I hope tomorrow he can be of great help to the team."
The match will also bring Motta face-to-face with his former coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who he played under at Genoa and Inter.
"He is a great coach. Gasperini does not have to prove anything anymore because he has shown so much. He is a complete coach and has done a great job," Motta said of his opponent.