Juventus FC Vs SS Lazio
Serie A: Matchday 1
Allianz Stadium, Torino, Italy
Saturday, August 25th, 2018        12:00PM EST        ESPN2 | ESPNDP | ESPN+

Without a doubt, Juve against Lazio is this week’s must watch match!  Not only will we being seeing two of Italy’s top clubs square off, but perhaps more importantly, we’ll be witnessing Cristiano Ronaldo take to the Allianz Stadium pitch once again.  This is where just several months ago, Cristiano stunned us all with what’ll go down as one of the all-time great moments in sport.  It was the then-Madradista’s second goal of the night, a ridiculous bicycle kick that left legendary goalkeeper Gigi Buffon standing still, simply watching in amazement as the ball went past him and into the back of his net.  Gigi wasn’t the only one dazzled though.  There were roughly 42,000 others in sheer disbelief, the entire Juve crowd (Ronaldo’s opposing fans).  And instead of the Bianconeri faithful simply slumping down in their seats, dejected as the UCL tie had likely been decided then and there, the Torino based crowd produced a moment of class themselves.  They all gave Ronaldo a standing ovation for his performance.  It was a magical sight, one that left you with goose bumps.  It was so moving that Cristiano himself thanked the crowd as he put his hand to his heart and waved to them.  We can all speculate when Cristiano decided his time was up in Madrid, but for me, it was in that moment that he knew this (Torino, Italy) was where he needed to be come next season.  And so it is, with this Saturday being his Juventus homecoming.

Lazio meanwhile will be up against it.  Talk about a murder’s row of fixtures to begin the Serie A season.  First Le Aquile had to play Napoli, which they lost last weekend 2-1.  Now they must face Juventus for their season opener.  On paper, Lazio have the squad to compete with Juve, as the Biancocelesti feature goal scoring extraordinaire Ciro Immobile.  He netted 29 times in 33 appearances for Lazio last year, while also scoring against Napoli in this season’s opener.  In addition, Le Aquile won the summer transfer window by simply holding onto Sergji Milinkovic-Savic.  The young ballyhooed box-to-box midfielder will play a part in Lazio trying to earn a point from this match.  

LSB Prediction: With Ciro and SMS, Lazio will give it a go against Juve.  But let’s make no bones about it, Saturday will be all about CR7.  There’ll be 42,000 fans inside the stadium, all of whom will be wearing a Ronaldo/Juve kit (500,000 were sold in first 24 hrs since offically Juventus).  And Cristiano, the showman that he is, will provide not one, not two, but three thank yous to the crowd as he'll trebles en route to a Juve win.  4-1 Juventus FC