By the club’s meteoric standards, it has been another frustrating season for Juventus. Well off the pace in Serie A and unceremoniously dumped out of the Champions League, the Coppa Italia – where Juve is in the semi-finals and lead Fiorentina 1-0 after the first leg – looks set to be the Bianconeri’s best shot at silverware this campaign.
But is all hope lost for Juve’s Serie A title chances? We look at what needs to happen to give the Turin giants any hope of reclaiming the scudetto.
No margin for error
At the time of writing, Juventus have seven Serie A games remaining and trail leaders AC Milan by eight points. Also in Juve’s way is second-placed Napoli (seven points ahead), and Inter Milan in third, four points clear but could make it seven if they win their game in hand.
The most important factor if Juventus are to make a late charge for the title is they cannot afford to drop any more points for the remainder of the season. Indeed, defeat last time out to Inter Milan could prove fatal.
A look at their remaining fixtures should give some cause for optimism. Juve travels to 17th-placed Cagliari in their next game before hosting Bologna, who sit 12th, in Turin. After the Coppa Italia semi-final second leg against Fiorentina, Juventus head to mid-table Sassuolo, before taking on a pair of relegation-threatened teams in Venezia and Genoa.
Juventus then end the season with a couple of tricky fixtures – at home against Lazio and away to Fiorentina.
On paper, these are all winnable matches and Juventus will need to take maximum points if they are to keep alive their hopes of reclaiming the scudetto.
A large helping hand
In addition to winning all their remaining games, Juventus will need a sizeable helping hand from the teams above them in the table. To leapfrog one team to win the title is challenging enough, to claw back and climb above three is going to take something else altogether.
AC Milan does have a relatively tricky run-in: of their seven games left, the Rossoneri face away trips to Torino and Lazio, and have tough home games against Fiorentina and Atalanta. Napoli, meanwhile, have an easier set of remaining fixtures, with only their home match against Roma a potential stumbling block, and Inter have a similarly straightforward run until the end of the season.
Juventus will need to hope AC Milan, Napoli, and Inter all stumble somewhere along the way all while winning all their matches to apply the pressure. Milan’s disappointing goalless draw against Bologna proves the top teams can still drop points.
Convert dominance into goals
For Juventus to win all their remaining games and give themselves something of a chance to win the Serie A title, the team needs to convert their dominance more effectively into more goals.
There have been too many occasions this season where Juve has had the better share of the ball and goalscoring chances, only to lose or be held to draws. The biggest, and most recent, example of this came against Inter this month: Juve had 22 shots (five on target), controlled 54 percent of the possession, and had eight corners – but lost 1-0 to a Hakan Calhanoglu penalty.
In November, Juve transpired to lose 1-0 at home to Atalanta despite 15 shots (only two on target), 59 percent possession, and six corners. Atalanta had one shot, scored, and won the game.
Perhaps the worst instance of Juve’s struggles with game management came in the Champions League’s last-16 defeat to Villarreal. In a strong position after drawing the first leg 1-1 in Spain, Juventus proceeded to lose the second leg 3-0 in Turin, conceding from all three shots on target while failing to find the net having had five shots on target and 59 percent possession.
Juventus need to improve their game management until the end of the season to have any hope of winning the title. This includes being more prolific in front of goals and finding ways to shut out matches when under pressure from the opposition.
Conclusion
Even the most ardent Juventus fan will concede that winning the Serie A title this season will be a long shot. With only a handful of matches left and three rivals comfortably ahead of them in the table, it is going to take something quite remarkable for Juventus to get their hands on the trophy come to the end of the season.
You can check how they position themselves in the odds to win the Scudetto here: https://www.bovada.lv/sports
Of course, strange things have happened so while it’s mathematically possible, all hope is not lost. However, a healthier perspective to take is hoping Juve finishes the season strong, and the club can use that momentum as a springboard for next season.
With the January arrival of Dusan Vlahovic, Juve has one of the most exciting young talents in European football and the Serbian striker will be expected to lead a renewed title bid next season.
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