In February, the bianconeri will face five opponents in the league against whom they won 8 points out of 15 in the first leg and will have challenges without appeal in the Coppa Italia and Europa League
After the sudden and unexpected -15 decided by the Court of Appeal, a new championship has begun for Juventus. The classification has changed, the horizons have changed, the direct competitors have changed – at least for now. And therefore it is worth reviewing the next month of the season in this different light, which will reserve Juve an 8-game cycle, full of difficulties but also of new stimuli, which add up to the seasonal diktat which is to react to the beating-penalization in the wake of what was demonstrated against Atalanta.
Eight races in one month
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The next opponents, in chronological order, will be: Monza, Lazio, Salernitana, Fiorentina, Nantes, Spezia, again Nantes and Turin. In short, there is something for all tastes, but let’s start by deleting Lazio, fresh from the poker inflicted on Milan, against which Juve will play the quarter-finals of the Italian cup, and the double challenge with Nantes, Juventus’ debut in the Europa League. The other five league matches remain, against opponents against whom Juve didn’t shine in the first leg.
From Monza to Monza
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If the derby is always a separate challenge, with Turin now having three points more than Juve, the other 4 matches hide sometimes unforeseen pitfalls even if the opponents have the same points compared to Allegri’s team (Fiorentina) or are more back (Monza -1, Salernitana and Spezia -5). In fact, Juve brought home only 5 of the 12 points available in the first leg, the result of a victory against the Ligurians, two draws (against the Viola and the Campania players) and a defeat against the Brianzoli, Sunday’s opponents at the Allianz. In fact, it was not the black and white victory in the Coppa Italia a few days ago that made the noise, but the bloody, unexpected thud of the Brianteo, the first defeat in the league for the Allegri band, moreover fresh from the home knockout against Benfica in the Champions League. A double blow that undermined the Juventus season, also leaving the aftermath of Di Maria’s disqualification, expelled for a childish reaction foul. For the record, for Monza it was the first historic victory in Serie A as well as Palladino’s debut on the bench.
Challenge within the challenge
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From Monza to Salernitana: Juve, after the defeat against PSG, won a hard-earned 2-2 (comeback from 0-2) which could have turned into a victory if Milik’s stop-time goal hadn’t been unjustly canceled by the Var. Third Fiorentina were opposing: with Vlahovic on the bench and Perin best black and white on the pitch, Juve drew 1-1. Until the match against Spezia, the only black and white victory of the lot, thanks to a free-kick from Vlahovic and a goal in expired time from Milik. Given the precedents, it must be said that a challenge within a challenge opens up for Juve next month: that of learning to win against the so-called small teams, because chasing the seasonal trophies embodied by the Coppa Italia and the Europa League will not be enough.
January 25th – 5.10pm
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