Even before a ball was kicked in anger at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday afternoon, it was unthinkable that when the final whistle was blown Juventus would not have secured a record-extending eighth consecutive Scudetto.
Despite a 20-point gap at the top of table and just two Serie A defeats this campaign, though, a Coppa Italia exit to Atalanta and mediocre title rivals, raises the question of just how good Juventus 8.0 are?
European success would have only papered over the cracks that have been forming in Turin this season, and the defeat to Ajax in Turin wasn’t as surprising a result as it would have been in any of the other seven title-winning seasons. Alas, it wasn’t to be and doubts have already been formed.
Fortunately for the Bianconeri, a rather expensive Cristiano Ronaldo shaped plaster was purchased last summer to hide the increasing stresses and strains of near-decade dominance, as Serie A also got weaker.
The competitive imbalance of Serie A – the difference between the points of the top and bottom placed sides – has slowly increased by 20 percent in the last four seasons. Highlighting that the bigger, and ultimately richer, barely break a sweat for most of a given campaign.
This term La Vecchia Signora have also displayed a huge reliance on the abilities of their Portuguese superstar. Take away the goals and assists that have effectively settled matches in Juventus’ favour and they could have been 23 points worse off.
A hat-trick to reverse a two-goal deficit in the Champions League last 16 against Atletico Madrid is all too easy a narrative around the team’s dependence on the ex-Real Madrid attacker, but the numbers back up those claims, and he even provided the assist for German Pezzella’s own goal on the day Juve were crowned champions.
Were Juventus a better side last season? Arguably yes, as performance figures have barely improved, if at all, this campaign and they were under considerably more pressure from a title-chasing Napoli led by Maurizio Sarri. As competitiveness has decreased, the Bianconeri’s dominance has simply grown ever stronger.
The greatest incarnation of the last decade was easily the 2013-15 vintage, led by two different coaches, Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri, but largely based around a core of 15 players – several of them amongst the best of their generations.
Andrea Pirlo, Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Patrice Evra, Arturo Vidal… and the list goes on.
What made this group outstanding was the tactical evolution from a tried-and-tested 3-5-2 formation – that broke the 100-point barrier in 2013/14 – to 4-4-2 that almost secured a historic treble in the process. It was seamless as two Scudetti were achieved with 17-point margins, and at a time when Serie A was more competitive. But more than that, it was done with an entertaining, swashbuckling style, coupled with the effortless swagger of Pirlo.
Current creator-in-chief Miralem Pjanic is no Maestro and even with Ronaldo’s many talents, there is something a little too mechanical and cold about the current side.
A future Champions League victory may ultimately lift them to the forefront of the club’s record books, but as things stand they should not be regarded as one of the greatest teams in their history. In truth, this is possibly the worst since Juventus’ Serie A return.
