A mere six weeks ago, Juventus could stake claim to the fact that they had just recorded a wild victory over their most hated rival in the Derby d’Italia and, as a result, were in the midst of their best
start to a new season since Max Allegri’s first tenure as manager in Turin.
That three-game winning streak feels so far away now.
With Wednesday night’s loss to Real Madrid in the Spanish capital, Juventus saw their winless run extended to seven consecutive games, with five draws followed up by back-to-back losses out of the October international break. That is notable not only because it’s seen Juve completely fall out of the top 24 in the Champions League league phase table, but also now be on their longest winless run in over a decade. To be even more exact, it’s been 16 years — since 2009! — in which you’d have to find a run form for that rivals this one. That was a time in which Claudio Ranieri, who did some really good things at Juventus, was still in charge.
Juventus haven’t won a game since that Sept. 13 derby victory over Inter.
And since then it’s seen the team and its manager show just about every flaw they have in one way or another.
As Juventus enter this Sunday night’s matchup against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, there is certainly heat on Igor Tudor to get this winless run turned around — and in a hurry. He might have a couple of games left, he might have more than that left. At this point, it’s hard to tell how much the improved performance against Real Madrid despite the loss will outweigh the results and performances over the previous six games. (And, as we all remember, it’s not like what happened against Como in Juventus’ first loss of the season was
Juventus have slide down the Serie A table as a result of their winless run domestically. They currently sit in seventh place — albeit four points off league leaders AC Milan with a certain Mr. Allegri at the helm — heading into the weekend, although could slip even further if they’re not able to pick up three much-needed points.
