Juventus will get back to club action this weekend when they face Cagliari at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday evening.
As usual, there will be no fans in the Stadia, however, we are all able to watch Live football on the tele and that is where most Juve fans will be when this game kicks off.
The last Serie A game that Juve played saw them play out a 1-1 draw at Lazio, an unlucky draw after Felipe Caicedo grabbed a last-minute equaliser for Simone Inzaghi’s men.
Andrea Pirlo will want better from his men when they welcome Cagliari and nothing less than a win will do, especially with AC Milan already four points ahead of the Bianconeri in the standings. There is only so far the team can fall behind before it becomes an issue.
A win over Cagliari would also set Juve up very nicely for the UEFA Champions League game just a few days later against Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros.
Both these games are ones that Juve should be winning and comfortably, however, if there is one thing that we have learned this season is that no game can be taken for granted.
Pirlo is under a bit of pressure, nothing too heavy right now but it will build if inconsistency becomes a habit. Fans will show patience under certain circumstances and that does apply to Pirlo right now but a couple of bad results and the tide could easily turn against the former midfield genius.
Cagliari and Ferencvaros are there for the taking but at the same time, they will both feel that they can get something from the games, even the Hungarians who Juve stuffed 4-1 a couple of weeks ago. Complacency cannot be allowed to set in.
It should also be noted that Pirlo does have a mini injury crisis on his hands, especially in defence and that will give their upcoming opponents a bit of a boost as well.
The next week or so is crucial for Pirlo, he has the opportunity of racking up a couple of easy wins that will build momentum and confidence and see the team get back on track after a stuttering start.
No doubt the manager will declare that he will be taking the games one at a time and that is the right way to look at it but as fans, we look at future fixtures all the time and we know what we expect and that is two wins against two very beatable opponents.
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