Major boost for Spalletti as key Juventus star rejoins group training | OneFootball

Sunday’s training session at Continassa bore good news for Juventus, as Kenan Yildiz returned to the fold.

The Bianconeri are back from Lombardia with three important points in the bag after beating Cremonese by two goals to one on Luciano Spalletti’s debut.

The newly appointed manager had to improvise with his formation in the absence of several key players, including Yildiz, Gleison Bremer and Kelly, but still managed to come away with a positive result.

Kenan Yildiz training alongside Juventus teammates

Spalletti certainly had no time to soak it all in, as a vital Champions League encounter awaits him on Tuesday night. Juventus will host Sporting CP at the Allianz Stadium in a must-win match, as they have only collected two points from their first three European matches this season.

Therefore, the Serie A giants resumed training as early as Sunday, even though the players who started on Saturday were allowed to rest.

According to JuventusNews24, Sunday’s training session witnessed the return of Yildiz, who trained regularly alongside his teammates.

(Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)

This is certainly a major relief for Spalletti and his technical staff, as they’ll be able to count on the Turkish attacker for the first time, having missed his services against Cremonese.

Although he wasn’t injured, the 20-year-old was left in Turin on the weekend due to some discomfort in his knee.

After rejoining group training, Yildiz should be fit enough to start in midweek, but it remains to be seen in which position Spalletti will field him, and whether his return will prompt a change in the formation.

Lloyd Kelly still training on his own

On a related note, the source reveals that Kelly underwent personalised training on Sunday, which is a concerning indication since we’re only two away from the contest against Sporting.

It remains to be seen whether the Englishman will recover from his back problem in time, and who would replace him if he doesn’t.

Spalletti pulled off a major surprise on Saturday as he fielded Teun Koopmeiners in the left centre-back role in the absence of the former Newcastle man.