Away from the field, Juve's issues have been even more dire. Last season, the club's financial violations incurred a 10-point penalty that saw the Bianconeri slip to seventh in the league. Earlier that season, the club's board of directors, including chairman Andrea Agnelli and vice-chairman Pavel Nedvěd, resigned en masse following the Plusvalenza scandal involving capital gains and false accounting violations.
It therefore came as no surprise when Juve were unable to attract any major names to the Allianz Stadium this past off-season. Juve's most notable acquisitions were Timothy Weah, who was signed for €10.3 million, as well as his fellow American Weston McKennie who returned from a loan stint at Leeds United. Understandably, expectations were somewhat tempered as the season got underway.
Even more adversity recently came Juve's way with the suspensions of midfielders Nicolò Fagioli and Paul Pogba. Fagioli received a seven-month suspension after having been found guilty of violating betting rules while Pogba has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. While neither have been among Juve's key players this season, these incidents could potentially end up destabilizing the team if not handled adequately.
However, it now appears that Juve are once again bona fide Serie A title contenders. Their 1-0 away victory against AC Milan kept them just two points behind league leaders Inter Milan. Manuel Locatelli scored the only goal of the match in the second half as Juve took advantage of a first-half red card issued to Milan centre-back Malick Thiaw following an ill-advised tackle attempt on Moise Kean.
Perhaps the primary reason behind Juve's much-improved performance thus far this season has been their tactical shift. Juve currently field a 3-5-2 formation with one of the two up front not being a classic centre-forward; usually either Kean or Federico Chiesa. This setup has afforded Juve more freedom and space up front in comparison to last season. Massimiliano Allegri's team have displayed an edge in the final third that had largely been absent for the majority of the last two to three years. Despite having less possession, Juve did far more with it than Milan did. On another day, Juve could have won by more than one goal.
Juve's depth was also clearly shown in this match. Chiesa and Dušan Vlahović both came off the bench as both had recently sustained injuries. Daniele Rugani, meanwhile, started at centre-back in place of the injured Danilo, while Andrea Cambiaso played just 35 second-half minutes. Despite these changes to their regular starting line-up, Juve didn't miss a beat as, assisted by excellent performances in midfield by Manuel Locatelli and Adrien Rabiot, the backups proved more than capable. This will undoubtedly serve Juve well as they attempt to reclaim the Scudetto. The league campaign of 38 matches can only be described as a grins, so in what will likely be a title race which will go down to the wire, every extra bit of depth helps.
If there was any element of Juve's performance against Milan which could come in for criticism, it would have to be their general decision-making after Milan were reduced to 10 men. In a post-match interview, Allegri lamented his team's over-reliance on making passes in tight channels as well as their frequent attempts to take on opposing players in one-on-one situations as these caused Juve's play to become somewhat forced and stilted. Nevertheless, the general vibes surrounding Juve right now are mostly positive - something which hasn't been the case for more than a little while now.
At this point, Juventus have to be taken seriously as potential Serie A title contenders. This is a team which evidently came into this season vastly underrated but have begun to make other teams take notice. Although Allegri himself has downplayed Juve's chances of claiming a record-extending 37th Scudetto, the way things are going, he might soon want to revisit that statement.
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