Vlahovic set to return as Juventus faces Bologna
Dusan Vlahovic will be available for Juventus' Serie A clash against Bologna this weekend, Thiago Motta has revealed before facing his former employers for the first time.
Vlahovic has missed Juventus's past three games in all competitions after picking up a muscle problem in his left thigh during November's international break.
He is Juventus's top scorer in Serie A this season with six goals, and he will be keen to add to that total against one of his favoured opponents in the Italian top-flight.
The Serbian has scored six goals against Bologna in 10 appearances for former club Fiorentina and Juventus, only scoring more against Cagliari, with seven.
"Dusan will be in the group tomorrow. He has trained with the team this week," Motta said at a pre-match press conference.
"We are happy with his return, that he can do what he likes. It's his job to go on the pitch and play football.
"Tomorrow there will be Dusan and there will also be [midfielder Vasilije] Adzic, and [defender Nicolo] Savona will also return, who was missing from the last match."
Motta, however, will be without Gleison Bremer, Juan Cabal, Nico Gonzalez, Douglas Luiz, Arkadiusz Milik and Weston McKennie for the encounter.
The Juventus head coach is preparing to face former club Bologna for the first time since departing in June.
During his first full season in charge, Motta guided Bologna to a UEFA Champions League berth for the first time since 1964-1965, while also achieving a new record points tally of 68 in Serie A for the Rossoblu.
"Bologna is doing well and is a great team," Motta said. "[But] we have to focus on what we have to do, and many other things that we should avoid.
"It plays very vertically and presses a lot. It will put a lot of intensity. In Bologna, I lived two wonderful years, both on a personal and sporting level," he added.
Juventus, however, enters the weekend in sixth position, six points off leader Napoli, after drawing four of its past six Serie A games.
Motta has drawn 10 of his first 19 games in charge of Juventus in all competitions, with only Cestmir Vycpalek in 1971 taking charge of fewer games, 12, to reach that total since 1929-1930.
Juve has also struggled at the top end of the pitch, scoring once in its past three games in all competitions, something Motta acknowledged his team needed to improve.
"We're coming off a few games that we haven't won," Motta said. "In some we've had good performances, but we need to improve.
"We can't just focus on one phase of the game to get the result we want. Our offensive phase is everyone's responsibility, starting with our goalkeeper.
"The more we arrive with the right men up front, the more likely we are to score. At the same time, we need to defend and prevent our opponent from creating anything."
