After their midweek Champions League celebrations Juve resume the weekly grind of Serie A with a potentially tricky away trip to Palermo that signals coach Antonio Conte’s return to the touchline.

Conte, who led Juve to the title last season, was banned at the start of the current campaign by the Italian authorities for his role in a match-fixing affair while at his former club Siena.

Despite assistant Angelo Alessio keeping the Old Lady of Turin ticking over – Juve are top of the league and qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday – he has welcomed Conte back to the frontline.

“We’re happy with our qualification and the way we qualified,” said Alessio.

“We’re also happy to welcome back Antonio Conte for Palermo.”

After a 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk allowed Juve to finish top of Group E, defender Leonardo Bonucci said of Conte: “He’s suffered a lot and we want to dedicate this to him.”

As a comeback match, it appears Conte could not have it any easier: Palermo sit fourth from bottom of the table with few notable victories to speak of.

Yet the Sicilians, unlucky to suffer a 1-0 defeat at Inter last week, are undefeated at the Stadio Renzo Barbera since a 3-0 rout by Napoli in their league opener back in August and held Milan to a 2-2 draw in October.

Juve’s extra incentive for what would be their 12th win in 16 games is the fact Inter and Napoli could both drop points in their late match in Milan tomorrow.

Both teams have emerged as Juve’s strongest title opposition with Napoli in second only two points behind the Bianconeri, and Inter a further two points adrift.

Napoli have already shown their limits playing away against big name rivals during a humbling 2-0 defeat in Turin in late October.

However the Partenopei should have reason to believe they can return from Milan with at least a point.

Cagliari dug deep to grab a share of the points three weeks ago and Palermo came close last week until a late own goal by defender Santiago Garcia handed Inter all three points.

There is also some inner turbulence at Inter as the club digs its heels in over Wesley Sneijder.

Sneijder has been unofficially sidelined after refusing to sign an amendment to his contract which the players’ trade union FIFPro labelled as “blackmail”.

The stand-off has threatened to boil over, with Sneijder breaking club rules on Wednesday by responding to fans’ questions on his availability on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni left the Dutchman out of his squad for the match against Neftci in the Europa League on Thursday but maintained that his decision was not linked to the contract impasse.

He said Sneijder is “doing very well, training with his team-mates like everyone else”, however the odds are against Sneijder playing tomorrow.

Milan, meanwhile, will be without Kevin Prince Boateng (suspended) for their trip to Torino.

Like Juventus, Milan have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League and are on a positive run that has seen them surge from the bottom half of the table to seventh, albeit 14 points behind leaders Juventus.

Fixtures

Serie A

Playing Today
Atalanta vs Parma - 18.00
Roma vs Fiorentina - 20.45

Tomorrow – 15.00
Cagliari vs Chievo
Inter vs Napoli - 20.45
Palermo vs Juventus
Pescara vs Genoa
Siena vs Catania
Torino vs Milan

Monday
Sampdoria vs Udinese - 19.00
Bologna vs Lazio - 21.00

Standings: Juventus 35; Napoli 33; Inter 31; Fiorentina, Lazio 29; Roma 26; Milan 21; Parma 20; Udinese, Catania 19; Atalanta 18; Sampdoria 17; Cagliari 16; Torino, Chievo 15; Bologna, Palermo 14; Genoa 12; Siena, Pescara 11.

Serie B

Played Yesterday
Sassuolo vs Modena 2-0

Today – 15.00
Brescia vs Reggina
Cesena vs Empoli
Crotone vs Lanciano
Grosseto vs Pro Vercelli
Verona vs Ascoli
Novara vs Padova
Spezia vs Bari
Ternana vs Juve Stabia
Vicenza vs Livorno

Tomorrow
Cittadella vs Varese 12.30

Standings: Sassuolo 42; Livorno 38; Verona 32; Brescia, Padova, Varese 26; Modena, Juve Stabia 25; Cittadella, Empoli 22; Spezia 21; Bari 19; Ternana, Crotone, Ascoli 18; Vicenza 17; Cesena 16; Reggina 15; Lanciano, Pro Vercelli 14; Novara 10; Grosseto 8.

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