Questions will continue to be asked of Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri after the Bianconeri were humiliated at home to Villarreal on Wednesday, losing 3-0 on the night and 4-1 on aggregate to fall out of the Champions League.
Allegri has faced criticism of late for Juventus’ style of play both domestically and in Europe, but the Italian doubled down on Wednesday and his team put on another underwhelming show against a Villarreal side who were more than happy to sit deep and leave their hosts to have possession that they were unable to do anything with.
? Dreadful Juventus
? Another Serie A side out early
? ???Allegri
? Where does this leave Dybala?
? Where do Juve go from here?@ConJClancy and @burns_euan dissect #JuventusVillarreal and the Bianconeri's #UCL elimination in the bonus pod.https://t.co/qU6B2KgOjC pic.twitter.com/57qcrpnWsv— ForzaItalianFootball (@SerieAFFC) March 16, 2022
Juventus’ slow tempo appeared to be playing into the La Liga side’s hands for the majority of the evening, with Unai Emery’s team running the clock down whenever they could in the first half and through the second, even with the scores level at 1-1.
The Italian side failed to pose any real trouble for Geronimo Rulli in Villarreal’s goal, despite Dusan Vlahovic and Alvaro Morata starting together in attack. Paulo Dybala came on as a second-half substitute.
Villarreal were gifted the chance to go ahead when Daniele Rugani brought down Francis Coquelin in the area and Gerard Moreno, having just stepped onto the pitch moments earlier, converted despite Wojciech Szczesny getting two hands to his effort.
That lead was doubled eight minutes later and with five to play as Pau Torres converted from inside the Juventus box after some woeful defending. Matthijs de Ligt conceded another penalty in the last minute of the 90 with his best impression of a goalkeeper, allowing Arnaut Danjuma to convert.
