For the second consecutive season, Juventus have seen their Champions League dreams dashed as the Bianconeri were eliminated in the round of 16.
Last term, it was Lyon who dispatched them, and this year, Porto. The last time Juventus featured in a Champions League final was in 2017, and they haven't won the competition since 1996. In addition, La Vecchia Signora hold the dubious honor of featuring in the most finals without winning.
Their early elimination this year, with Porto securing passage to the quarter-finals, means that Juventus will have to wait yet another year to attempt to win their first Champions League trophy in over two decades.
Not surprisingly, Andrea Pirlo, who is in his debut season at the Allianz Stadium, could find himself in hot water. In addition to Juve's early elimination, the Bianconeri are well off the pace in Serie A as they aim to make it an unprecedented tenth straight Scudetto at the end of the season. Currently in third place, they are presently ten points behind league leaders Inter, albeit they have a game in hand due to their participation in the Supercoppa Italiana earlier this year.
Pirlo oversaw his team as they defeated Napoli, earning him the first piece of silverware of his nascent coaching career. However, there is the possibility that Juventus may be unable to retain the Scudetto. And while they're through to the Coppa Italia finals, they will be facing Atalanta, a team who have been determined to prove they can mix it up with the bigger sides for the past few years, so Juventus aren't 100 per cent certain of winning that tie, either.
This means that there's the possibility that Juventus, following their early exit from this season's Champions League tournament, could fail to win either the Scudetto or the Coppa Italia for the first time in a decade.
Thus, it's not surprising that there are already whispers that Pirlo's position isn't as secure as many might think. After all, last year saw Maurizio Sarri sacked following Juve's Champions League elimination at the hands of Lyon - and that's despite the Bianconeri winning their ninth consecutive Scudetto.
In this case, the Scudetto isn't a guarantee given the huge gap between Juventus and Inter. Nonetheless, Pirlo brushed off any concerns about his future, noting that, "I was brought in for a different approach [and to oversee] a project that was always meant to develop over several years, so I am not concerned [about being sacked]".
Of course, time will tell whether the 2006 World Cup winner and former Juventus midfielder will still be on the bench next season. For now, his focus will undoubtedly be to try to close the gap on Inter as well as second-placed AC Milan and make sure that the Scudetto doesn't end up in Milan for the first time since 2011.
