With Juventus beating Parma 2-1 the very impressive undefeated streak of Roberto Donadoni’s Parma side came to an end. The streak had lasted several months, from late October – when Parma lost to Juventus last – to late March.
Given Parma’s resources relative to some of the “larger” sides in Serie A it was a fine achievement and it has left Parma in a good place for European qualification.
However this streak was not alone in its’ death. It was joined by a different, more Juve-centric streak: five consecutive clean sheets in Serie A. If you include the Europa League, then you have a rather impressive total of eight clean sheets in nine games. Seeing as how Juventus’ defense this season has at times caught flak for its perceived weakness compared to the previous two seasons’ iterations, the streak was a vindication of sorts.
Further adding to the accomplishment is the fact that the first choice centerback trio of Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, and, Giorgio Chiellini, has not started any of these matches. Certainly all three have started in various matches but not at the same. In fact a different trio has been starting very recently. That of Bonucci, Chiellini, and. Martin Caceres. This is mostly due to Barzagli’s fitness issues, but Caceres has been in nice form himself.
This streak has been a testament to Antonio Conte’s rotation policy and, to a lesser extent, the general skill of Juve’s defenders. Juve’s excellent midfield certainly factors into this streak as do the wingbacks. However one shouldn’t undermine how well the centerbacks have played.
Another factor has been Gianluigi Buffon. The legendary goalkeeper has been in peak form over the past few weeks and bailed out Juve’s defenders plenty of times. While some of the 1-0 victories were supposedly “undeserved” for Juventus – specifically the Genoa match – part of beating Juve is beating Buffon. If you can’t do it on a penalty, then don’t expect to beat Juve at all.
Juventus are sailing to the Scudetto and also look a good bet for the Europa League. They drew French side Lyon in the quarter-finals. Lyon are fifth in Ligue One, but they have lost two of their last three matches, have a few important players out with injuries, and the Juventus games come at tricky times in their fixture list.
The first leg comes right after a match between Lyon and fourth placed Saint Etienne, a crucial battle for the final Europa League spot. Then they fact Paris Saint Germain after the second leg so they may be resting players ahead of that. Either way the current climate seems to favor Juve.
Last week I wrote that Juventus had three “tricky” games left in Serie A. One was the Parma match, the second is this weekend versus Napoli, and the final comes in the penultimate match versus Roma. The Napoli game is made more difficult by the suspension of Carlos Tevez. He picked that honor up today after accumulating too many yellow cards.
Tevez scored both of the goals in Juve’s 2-1 Parma win so it will be a tough loss. The lack of fit strikers and the poor form of Fernando Llorente also puts a damper on Juve’s attack. Perhaps Dani Osvaldo can spur on a good reaction from Llorente, as those two are the likely starters.
Either way Juventus are still in prime position for Serie A and the Europa League. The Scudetto is pretty much assured, but is the Europa League also in the cards?
