Since 1961, Juventus have not suffered four winless run in Italian Serie A. They have been struggling to score goals, to keep a clean sheet, and to win games since their former talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo left the club.
Recall that in August, Ronaldo decided to leave the club with a season left on his contract. He returned to Manchester United after 12 years of leaving the Premier League side for Real Madrid.
Despite his age (36-year-old), the Portuguese football icon has been enjoying a fine goalscoring form at the Premier League side. So far, he has scored four goals in three games.
As for Juventus, the Italian club are currently sitting in the relegation zone. They are occupying the 18th spot on the league table after matchday four.
Juventus have never had it that bad for over 60 years. It has gotten so bad that the Italian club have conceded a goal or more in 18 successive league games. This is the worst record in Europe’s top five major leagues.
As it stands, Juventus are a game away from equaling their 2010 record where they played 19 games without recording a clean sheet. They are also three games away from recording their worst-ever run set in 1955.
In 1942-43, 1955-56, and 1961-62 seasons when Juventus failed to win their first four league games, they failed to win the Serie A title.
Hence, the fact that Juventus draw 2-2 with Udinese, suffered a 0-1 defeat in the hands of Empoli, 2-1 defeat in the hands of Napoli, and 1-1 draw in the hands of AC Milan, there is a very slim chance that Juventus would win this season Seria A title.
Even without Cristiano Ronaldo who was seen as a problem to the growth of 27-year-old Argentine forward, Paulo Dybala, Juventus’ squad is currently worth €640 million.
Despite such a squad, coach Massimiliano Allegri is beginning to look clueless in handling things at the club. The presence of €60 million worth Matthijs de Ligt in the club’s defense has not stopped the club from conceding 6 goals in four games.
While the presence of Paulo Dybala, Alvaro Morata, Juan Cuadrado, and Federico Chiesa has only helped the club to score four goals in four games which is not good enough based on the goals they have conceded so far.
In reaction to the dwindling fortunes of Juventus, coach Allegri admitted that it might be difficult for the club to win the Serie A title again if they keep making defensive errors.
After a 1-1 draw with AC Milan last weekend, Allegri said: “It was important to get a positive result and we did. A defeat would’ve not definitively left us behind Milan, but a big advantage, now it is easier to bridge,” he insisted.
“The problem is that winning a game is one thing, winning a league is another, and that means not conceding goals due to errors like that. We can draw games if the other team does better, not if we give it away.
“There were some positives, in other words, the first half, but what makes me angry are the final 15 minutes. We should’ve suffered more, be ready to fight tooth and nail. At those moments, you can’t look at being aesthetically beautiful, you just take the result home, even if it’s ugly.”
Juventus will try to redeem themselves from tomorrow, September 22, when they take on Spezia away from home. They are expected to also beat Sampdoria on Sunday to start climbing back to the top of the league table.
FT | ⌛️ | Honours even at the Allianz.#JuveMilan #FinoAllaFine #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/bs7bAPxxsA
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) September 19, 2021
