Out of the Champions League and now a whopping ten points behind in the Scudetto race. In short, Juventus are in trouble.
Although the Bianconeri are into the finals of the Coppa Italia, and recently won the Supercoppa Italiana after beating Napoli in January, that may not be enough to save Andrea Pirlo's job on the tactician's bench.
For the second straight season, the Turin giants were eliminated at the first knockout juncture in the Champions League. Last year saw them embarrassingly eliminated by Lyon. This time around, their opponents were a more esteemed side - Portuguese powerhouse Porto - but it still doesn't erase the bitter disappointment Juve executives feel after again coming up short in European football's most prestigious club competition.
Since 2012, La Vecchia Signora have established themselves as the premier side in Italian football. No team have won the Scudetto since AC Milan last clinched it in 2011. However, despite dominating domestically, Juventus have repeatedly come up short on the continental stage, and have been desperate to show that they deserve to be considered a European powerhouse once again by lifting the big trophy.
Unfortunately, they'll have to wait yet another season. Massimiliano Allegri came close - twice - but was regrettably thwarted by Spanish outfits Barcelona and Real Madrid in 2015 and 2017. Yet, despite taking Juventus to their first Champions League finals in decades, he was jettisoned in lieu of Maurizio Sarri, who only lasted a season before being sacked in 2020.
And now, Pirlo, despite being a club icon, could also be on his way out in his debut senior managerial season as he's in danger of hitting certain metrics. While the Scudetto is an ambition for most Serie A clubs, for Juventus, it's the bare minimum. Sarri won it, and it still wasn't enough to save his job. Pirlo, meanwhile, is in danger of not even making sure that it stays in Turin for a tenth straight season following Juve's embarrassing 1-0 loss to Benevento this past weekend.
Juventus isn't a club that tends to sack a manager midway through a season on a whim, but calcio fans have seen it happen before at other fellow big sides. In 2014, Milan fired Allegri after their 4-3 loss to minnows Sassuolo in January. Could this loss to Benevento likewise spell the end of Pirlo's tenure?
We will just have to see what happens once Serie A resumes after the international break.
