After a shaky start in the Champions League, Juventus will need to drastically improve if they want to have any chance of earning some much-needed points against Real Madrid.
13 December 1998. That was the last time that Fiorentina had defeated Juventus at their home stadium, courtesy of legendary Argentina striker Gabriel Batistuta. Since then, the Viola have been unable to earn all three points against the Bianconeri—being held to a draw last season and suffering a 5-0 humiliation the prior season at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. And it looked like it would be yet another year that they’d have to deal with the seemingly predictable story-line of one of their biggest rivals visiting and making off with at least a point.
Up until the 66th minute, that is. Giuseppe Rossi’s rapid-fire hat-trick and a solitary strike from Joaquin were enough to complete an amazing turnaround that no one saw coming and hand Juventus not just their first league victory of the season, but also marked the first time that the Bianconeri had conceded four goals under Antonio Conte’s reign. Certainly, not something any team would aspire to especially with a crucial Champions League tie looming on the horizon.
Their Champions League opponents currently lead their group with six points, having successfully brushed aside the two sides, Galatasaray and Copenhagen that held the Bianconeri to draws by score-lines of 6-1 and 4-0 respectively. Having scored 10 goals and conceded just one so far, Real Madrid are obviously going to be a tough task for Antonio Conte’s men, especially noting that Cristiano Ronaldo already has netted 50% of his team’s goals so far and will be certainly looking to add more against the Serie A title-holders this Wednesday.
In terms of history between the two sides—the last time the duo met in the group stage was back in the 2008-2009 season, where the Bianconeri bested Los Blancos by an aggregate score line of 4-1, but despite finishing top of their group, they were dispatched in the first knockout round by Chelsea. Alessandro Del Piero was the hero for Juventus, as it was his double that ensured that they gabbed all three points against the La Liga titans at the Bernabeu on 5 November 2008. Additionally, he also scored one of the Bianconeri’s two goals in the home fixture approximately a fortnight earlier.
Only a handful of players from Juve—Giorgio Chiellini and Claudio Marchisio, both of whom started during the home fixture, as well as Sebastian Giovinco and Paolo De Ceglie who were substitutes whereas captain Gianluigi Buffon missed out on both fixtures—have some experience in playing at Real Madrid’s home ground with the Serie A giants. Still, they do have a certain Andrea Pirlo in their ranks, whose extensive experience both at club and international level is something that Conte’s troops will be counting on to make the difference against what will be likely an uphill battle for La Vecchia Signora.
Some optimists have claimed that once you complete a difficult task, you can easily do it again. However, there are several factors one should take into consideration here. Real Madrid has certainly gotten better since 2008-2009 thanks to the addition of a certain €94 million player, among others, whilst Juventus have struggled to find a striker to fill the shoes left behind by the departing Del Piero. Most disturbingly, the Bianconeri haven’t looked convincing whatsoever so far in their European campaign—dropping two points against the Danes in a game that they should’ve been able to win easily, then seeing their hard work against Galatasaray come unraveled due to a severe lapse in concentration at the back—which again was evident in Sunday’s clash with Fiorentina, where they let in four goals in the span of just under a quarter of an hour.
They did start off last year in a similar vein and surprised many by defeating then-reigning champions Chelsea at the Juventus Stadium, cruising past Celtic 5-0 on aggregate (the only side to get through without conceding a single goal in that round) before being eliminated by eventual winners Bayern in the quarter-finals. So, given that, yes it might be a tad too early to sound the alarm regarding their chances to get out of the group, but if they want to make a statement to the rest of Europe, now is the time that they need to show that they’ve made progress from last season, a time that their manager referred to as a building stage.
But, as it’s certainly likely that Galatasaray will gain at least a point from their match-up with Copenhagen, the pressure is on Juventus to gain as many points as possible over what will likely be the most difficult 180 minutes so far of their Champions League campaign. And given the quality of both sides, it’s hopefully going to be an entertaining clash for both fans and neutrals alike—but in all honesty, this is a do-or-die operation for the Bianconeri in terms of their European mission—because one can perhaps argue that their likelihood of a Scudetto three-peat aren’t looking 100% certain as of now.
Up until the 66th minute, that is. Giuseppe Rossi’s rapid-fire hat-trick and a solitary strike from Joaquin were enough to complete an amazing turnaround that no one saw coming and hand Juventus not just their first league victory of the season, but also marked the first time that the Bianconeri had conceded four goals under Antonio Conte’s reign. Certainly, not something any team would aspire to especially with a crucial Champions League tie looming on the horizon.
Their Champions League opponents currently lead their group with six points, having successfully brushed aside the two sides, Galatasaray and Copenhagen that held the Bianconeri to draws by score-lines of 6-1 and 4-0 respectively. Having scored 10 goals and conceded just one so far, Real Madrid are obviously going to be a tough task for Antonio Conte’s men, especially noting that Cristiano Ronaldo already has netted 50% of his team’s goals so far and will be certainly looking to add more against the Serie A title-holders this Wednesday.
In terms of history between the two sides—the last time the duo met in the group stage was back in the 2008-2009 season, where the Bianconeri bested Los Blancos by an aggregate score line of 4-1, but despite finishing top of their group, they were dispatched in the first knockout round by Chelsea. Alessandro Del Piero was the hero for Juventus, as it was his double that ensured that they gabbed all three points against the La Liga titans at the Bernabeu on 5 November 2008. Additionally, he also scored one of the Bianconeri’s two goals in the home fixture approximately a fortnight earlier.
Only a handful of players from Juve—Giorgio Chiellini and Claudio Marchisio, both of whom started during the home fixture, as well as Sebastian Giovinco and Paolo De Ceglie who were substitutes whereas captain Gianluigi Buffon missed out on both fixtures—have some experience in playing at Real Madrid’s home ground with the Serie A giants. Still, they do have a certain Andrea Pirlo in their ranks, whose extensive experience both at club and international level is something that Conte’s troops will be counting on to make the difference against what will be likely an uphill battle for La Vecchia Signora.
Some optimists have claimed that once you complete a difficult task, you can easily do it again. However, there are several factors one should take into consideration here. Real Madrid has certainly gotten better since 2008-2009 thanks to the addition of a certain €94 million player, among others, whilst Juventus have struggled to find a striker to fill the shoes left behind by the departing Del Piero. Most disturbingly, the Bianconeri haven’t looked convincing whatsoever so far in their European campaign—dropping two points against the Danes in a game that they should’ve been able to win easily, then seeing their hard work against Galatasaray come unraveled due to a severe lapse in concentration at the back—which again was evident in Sunday’s clash with Fiorentina, where they let in four goals in the span of just under a quarter of an hour.
They did start off last year in a similar vein and surprised many by defeating then-reigning champions Chelsea at the Juventus Stadium, cruising past Celtic 5-0 on aggregate (the only side to get through without conceding a single goal in that round) before being eliminated by eventual winners Bayern in the quarter-finals. So, given that, yes it might be a tad too early to sound the alarm regarding their chances to get out of the group, but if they want to make a statement to the rest of Europe, now is the time that they need to show that they’ve made progress from last season, a time that their manager referred to as a building stage.
But, as it’s certainly likely that Galatasaray will gain at least a point from their match-up with Copenhagen, the pressure is on Juventus to gain as many points as possible over what will likely be the most difficult 180 minutes so far of their Champions League campaign. And given the quality of both sides, it’s hopefully going to be an entertaining clash for both fans and neutrals alike—but in all honesty, this is a do-or-die operation for the Bianconeri in terms of their European mission—because one can perhaps argue that their likelihood of a Scudetto three-peat aren’t looking 100% certain as of now.
