The Bianconeri have historically risen to the challenge as the situation has called for.
Juventus were recently given a palpable appraisal of the havoc Real Madrid might wreak in the Champions League after the hiding Fiorentina inflicted on them at the weekend.
These are uncomfortable times in Turin, and the 4-2 capitulation in Florence only added further fuel to theories that a crisis is blazing in the Bianconeri camp.
Antonio Conte’s men had surged into a commanding 2-0 lead at halftime, but despondently trudged off the field after suffering a second period blitz which brought an uncharacteristically poor Gianluigi Buffon and his team-mates to their knees.
Fiorentina’s emphatic 10 minute turnaround is the story of Juventus’ season so far. The Italian champions have amassed six wins out of eight in the defence of their Scudetto, but doubts have crept in with issues at both ends.
It has taken a controversial winner in a contentious Turin derby, a wrongly disallowed Alberto Paloschi goal to defeat Chievo, and a win by the skin of their teeth against AC Milan for the wounded outfit to limp to third in Serie A.
Such domestic frailties have infiltrated Juventus’ European campaign to date. Despite dominating encounters with Copenhagen and Galatasaray, they have succumbed to cumbersome defending and profligate finishing to leave qualification from Group B in peril. With a double header against Real Madrid looming, the Italian giants are left with no choice but to regroup, or face utter annihilation.
Following a charge to the quarter-finals in the previous edition and subsequent concerted reinforcement of the squad, an unceremonious elimination from the competition would be inconceivable. Yet as Juventus prepare to do battle with the Spanish aristocrats in a gargantuan clash that promises to uphold the best traditions of the Champions League, they know there is something they can count on; their mettle for rising to the occasion under Conte.
Juventus carry the weight of expectations, and Wednesday would be the perfect time to deliver.
That, and the fact that recent difficulties have been read far too much into. Fluke performances may have occurred incessantly since the turn of September, but let’s not be disparaging about their actual worth. Juve are still the same monolith as from headier times, possibly even more so after boasting an impressive registry of summer arrivals.
Critics may continue to point that Juventus have allowed their hunger for domestic success to drop off some since seizing consecutive league crowns, but it is difficult to claim the same about Europe when such evenings, particularly those at the Santiago Bernabeu, offer a completely different set of stimuli to the humdrum of action back home.
None could have foreseen the Old Lady bombarded by the need to redeem herself so early in the season prior to its start. But now there is no better stage than in a tie with Real Madrid to issue a statement that they are back.
It will be up to Buffon, Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal to prove they exist solely for nights such as Wednesday’s; already, one suspects they wouldn’t dream of disappointing.
Juventus might have been treading water in the group stages to this point, but there is a sense the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight. With the voices around Vinovo coming to terms that they face the biggest fight of their lives for silverware this term, while the team concurrently works to restore psychological and sporting equilibrium and end a fruitful year on a high, they are in an ideal position to fire the perfect riposte versus Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
A result in Spain will not just be desirable, but necessary, for said reason. A month off the warpath has been a month too long for the club faithful, and there is the assurance Juve will pull out all the stops to ensure they kick back into the thick of things with their own stake. Progress in the Champions League depends on it. And the rest, as they say, will be history.
Follow Jeremy Lim on Twitter: @JLCalcio
