Paulo Dybala, Weston McKennie and Arthur Melo have been dropped for Juventus’ local derby with Torino after breaking coronavirus rules by attending a dinner party, coach Andrea Pirlo said yesterday.
“The three players concerned have not been selected, they will return to work at a later time, we’ll see about when,” Pirlo told reporters ahead of today’s Serie A clash. “This sort of stuff has been going on for years, but when you’re not allowed it shouldn’t happen, both because of what’s going on in the world and what’s happening with the team.”
Pirlo will also be without defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Merih Demiral for today’s match at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino following positive Covid-19 tests. The dropped trio were reported to have been fined by police who were called by neighbours to the lockdown get-together at US midfielder McKennie’s Turin home on Wednesday night. The three players, who all missed international call-ups with injuries, could also face sanctions from Juve. On Thursday Dybala apologised for the incident, although he said that he had simply “stayed out for dinner” and insisted that the gathering “wasn’t a party”.
Dybala and Arthur were among 10 guests at the dinner party, which broke Covid-19 protocols with a nationwide curfew in place in Italy from 10pm to 5am.
Looking to win a 10th successive Scudetto this season, Juve sit 10 points behind leaders Inter Milan in third in the Serie A standings. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon will not be available due to his one-match blasphemy ban. Reports in Italian newspapers this week said Pirlo, in his first season as a coach, could face the sack if the club suffer further poor results in their next two matches. But the rookie manager remains defiant. “The approach is to win all the games, and then you see what happens both in front and behind,” he added. “The goal is to win the one tomorrow and then think about the next one, our goal is to win all the games. We are still in this season, there is much to play for.” 
Torino, one point above the relegation zone, have won just one of their last 29 Serie A matches against Juventus, and that was six years ago.
Inter Milan are back in action at midtable Bologna after their match before the international break against Sassuolo was postponed because of a Covid-19 outbreak. Antonio Conte’s side are six points ahead of second-placed AC Milan, who take on 12th-placed Sampdoria. 
Inter can count on the return of captain and goalkeeper Samir Handanovic from Covid while Bologna’s Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski has tested positive.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s AC Milan need to improve their home form to keep in the running for a first ‘Scudetto’ since 2011, having not won any of their last five games in all competitions at the San Siro.
Atalanta, in fourth, equal on points with Juventus, host 11th-placed Udinese looking to hold off Napoli, who are at home against basement club Crotone. Roma, three points behind Napoli travel to eighth-placed Sassuolo, after losing two league games in a row for the first time this season. Sassuolo will be without their Italian internationals, Gian Marco Ferrari, Manuel Locatelli, Domenico Berardi and Francesco Caputo, “as a precaution” despite their negative tests, after an outbreak on the Italy team.


Fixtures (all times GMT)
Today: AC Milan v Sampdoria (1030), Atalanta v Udinese, Benevento v Parma, Cagliari v Hellas Verona, Genoa v Fiorentina, Lazio v Spezia, Napoli v Crotone, Sassuolo v Roma (all 1300), Torino v Juventus (1600), Bologna v Inter Milan (1845)