After winning nine consecutive Serie A titles, Juventus have become less dominant in recent seasons. The Old Lady finished fourth in 2020/21 and again in 2021/22 and the Italian giants were never in contention to reclaim the Scudetto.
In Europe, the club has also struggled to build momentum. A shock exit against Villarreal in the Round of 16 saw Juventus crash out of the Champions League early again in 2021/22. The club have now failed to get past this stage of the competition in the last three seasons.
With the club in crisis, Juventus are in danger of falling behind their rivals Inter Milan, and perhaps even following the same path as Manchester United and losing their long-lived supremacy at the top of Italian football.
Juventus’ Struggles
Max Allegri returned to take charge of Juventus at the start of last season following Andrea Pirlo’s departure. In pre-season, there was some optimism that he could mount a title challenge, despite the departure of star player Cristian Ronaldo.
Allegri took over a young squad that appeared to have the right blend of youth and experience. The Italian coach had young players like Matthijs de Ligt, Moise Kean, Weston McKennie and Dušan Vlahovi? who could learn from the established stars including Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci.
However, the Old Lady were poor in the early stages of their Serie A campaign. They made their worst start in 60 years and by mid-September, they were in the relegation zone after four matches.
Eventually, the Bianconeri rediscovered some mid-season form that helped them to challenge for European places. But Juventus were never consistent, with a run of four consecutive wins between late September and October being their best spell.
Furthermore, poor results throughout the season ultimately widened the gap between Juventus and title challengers AC and Inter. They dropped points against Verona, Venezia, Torino and Bologna throughout their campaign. By the end of the season, the gap was clear, with AC winning the Scudetto 16 points ahead of Juventus.
Can Crisis-Hit Juventus Keep Up in Serie A?
It appears that the problems are ongoing at the Allianz Stadium in pre-season. Allegri’s hopeful squad rebuild has stalled and the Italian coach has been unable to replace key players who departed this summer.
Veteran players, Paulo Dybala, Chiellini, Federico Bernardeschi and Alvaro Morata all left the club at the end of last season. So far, Juventus have signed Paul Pogba, Angel Di Maria and Federico Chiesa in the summer transfer window, but only time will tell if it is enough to kickstart their next campaign.
In addition, talented defender de Ligt continues to attract interest from top European clubs and the loss of another key player could dent Juventus’ title hopes.
Currently, there is a huge gap between Juventus and their 2 main challengers, AC Milan and Inter Milan. However, even with their disappointing seasons for the previous 2 years, the bookmakers are not entirely in agreement. For example, according to this site, we can find the most highly rated oddsmakers for sports betting and look through to find which of AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus are best regarded for the coming season.
AC Milan just beat their city rivals to their first Scudetto in a decade and they appear to have momentum under former Fiorentina legend Stefano Pioli. But, Inter are showing the consistency that could help them to reclaim the Serie A title from AC. In the last three seasons, Inter have finished in the top two places in the league, only missing out to AC by two points at the end of last season.
Where Inter and AC Milan have clear plans moving forward, Juventus are lagging behind. Concerns around Juventus’s changing squad and departures of some of their most seasoned and decorated players could prove decisive in the title race this season. Furthermore, with a month left to go before the season kicks off, the Old Lady will fall further behind unless they can form a cohesive plan for the 2022/23 campaign.
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