Juventus have recently turned the corner in Serie A, but is Massimiliano Allegri targeting European success at the expense of a fifth consecutive successive Scudetto?
Two weeks ago we spoke of the fixture between Juventus and AC Milan, analysing its importance and how it would be a potential turning point in the season.
Skip past the international break and this clash took place at the Juventus Stadium on Saturday night.
It ended 1-0 to the Bianconceri, meaning they sit one point above the Rossoneri in the Serie A league table after 13 games.
This time last year, the Old Lady had been top of the pile for nine weeks.
Compared to previous seasons, then, it hasn’t been the best start to the campaign, although there is a reason for that.
Cast your minds back seven or eight weeks to these Club Focus entries which mentioned that Massimiliano Allegri was perhaps focusing on the Champions League over Serie A.
At the time, Juventus had picked up two wins and a draw in their group and, ahead of their fifth game on Wednesday night, the theory that the Italian tactician could be prioritising the European club competition has resurfaced.
Blame Giorgio Chiellini for that.
“I think [the match against Manchester City] will be a great game, and hopefully we will secure our qualification,” the Italian international told Sky Sport Italia.
On first glance, those comments seem to be the normal positivity ahead of a big fixture, but it’s what he said at another time in the interview that raises questions.
“As the club stated earlier, our current goal is third place,” the 31-year-old said, discussing Juventus’ targets for the season.
If one of their leaders is focusing on the Champions League over domestic success, then it’s likely this feeling has washed over the rest of the squad.
However, there are positives that fans of La Vecchia Signora can draw from this partly disappointing statement.
AC Milan are no easy team to defeat, especially given their recent form, so a victory, albeit with a margin of just one goal, is not at all disastrous.
Yes, it was only one goal, but this was a field of 11 players whose minds were thinking about the huge clash against Manchester City just three days later against a Sinisa Mihajlovic field of 11 players who had no distractions.
Thanks to Paulo Dybala’s strike midway through the second half, Allegri’s men picked up the three points and now sit just seven points off their desired third place in the table, and more importantly just nine points off the top spot.
Furthermore, Milan’s previous five matches gave them no reason to be overlooked; a run of two draws and three wins, including a huge victory away to Lazio, was very impressive.
It also upstages the preceding five games of Juventus in the league; a string of three wins, one draw and one loss, including the shocker at Sassuolo.
Three points against the Diavolo on Saturday, then, was not a bad result at all, and should be looked at with hope that, despite the concentration on Europe, Juventus have overcome their early season slump and a run of excellent form awaits.
