Maybe it’s my mind failing me, but I’m having trouble remembering a game in which Juventus just flat-out dominated in the same way that they did against Lecce on Saturday yet didn’t come away with three
points.
I don’t know what other way to say it.
Sure, we’re three days into 2026, but it’s going to be hard for any of the other frustrating performances Juve will likely put forward and come close to matching what we just watched.
Then again, maybe I shouldn’t say that because this current state of Juventus — not the last couple of weeks to close out 2025 but the general quality of things — just continue to defy what thoughts we have about them.
Juventus didn’t just outshoot Lecce by a wide margin at the Allianz Stadium. They didn’t just dominate possession, the big chances in front of goal, the total xG figures and just about every other statistic that you can throw out there that would make you think this was a potential runaway win. But in the latest chapter of “Things Juventus Do To Cost Them Points” we have the latest prime of example of arguably the biggest thing that has held this club back as they’ve become a battler for the top four in Serie A and not much more than that — shooting themselves in the foot and being their own worst enemy. It didn’t matter if it was Andrea Cambiaso gift-wrapping Lecce their only goal of the night right before the half or Jonathan David seeing his second-half penalty saved that would have given Juventus the lead, the Bianconeri’s 1-1 draw was every bit the frustrating evening that didn’t seem possible after watching just how strong they came out of the blocks against one of Serie A’s relegation battlers.
It looked like it would only be a matter of time before Juventus took the lead and raced off into the distance to claim a win. There was just one thing missing: a goal. And you definitely wouldn’t have thought that it would be Lecce, the team that didn’t even force a save out of Michele Di Gregorio the entire night, taking the lead right before the halftime whistle.
Yet there we were as the second half kicked off and Juventus were having to chase the lead because of Cambiaso’s absolutely stunning cross-field passes that basically handed Lecce their best scoring chance of the night and the opening goal in the first minute of first-half stoppage time.
It was mind boggling. Absolutely mind boggling.
And little did we know …
Yeah, I know, I know. Where this game went didn’t get better. Weston McKennie did the latest thing to remind Juventus that they should renew his contract ASAP, but the other half of the CONCACAF Boys, the completely out-of-form David, just did another thing to remind us how he’s currently a shell of the player we saw for much of his time at Lille in Ligue 1. It was a PK that was deserved and VAR got right for a change, but it’s also an attempt from the spot that could have given Juventus the much-needed lead in a game that would have seen them go back into the top four.
Instead …
It just makes you want to scream because of how much Juventus did to put themselves in position to win this game. Luciano Spalletti had his team come out like gangbusters and they created as many chances as we’ve seen them record within the first 10-20 minutes of a game in what feels like a good while. They finished with four times as many shots as Lecce. They even had a chance to win it at the very end when Kenan Yildiz’s bending shot went off the upright, but Loïs Openda’s attempt to put away the rebound went anywhere but where it should have.
This is a draw that never should have happened.
Even with David’s penalty miss taken out of the equation — and that’s not discounting it at all because there is no reason why you should be taking that bad of a shot no matter who the keeper is — Juventus should have scored more than a single goal. You don’t create 25 shots and only leave the field having scored a single goal. That is, like I said, why they had to chase the game in the second half. (Well, that and Cambiaso’s completely unforgivable cross-field pass that never was going to reach its intended target.)
I just don’t know, man. This should have been a win 99.99% of the time. It’s just that 0.01% that took over.
You wanna know why Juventus are going to be battling for the top four and probably not in a serious title race this season when they have the chance to prove all of us wrong? It’s because of stuff like this. It’s because of games like this. Everybody drops points in a few games they shouldn’t — that’s just the reality of this sport. Juventus, however, just seem to do it so much more often than those who are in front of them in the standings.
And that’s why they entered the weekend in fifth place, not legitimately pushing the Milan clubs and Napoli for the Serie A title right now.
RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS
- Those black jerseys. They will never disappoint me. They are just so pretty.
- Can you imagine one of Juve’s keepers rolling out in that third kit one day when the rest of the team wears the black and white stripes? That would be the good stuff right there.
- Meanwhile, Juventus on the whole, they will disappoint me a decent number of the times I watch them. That’s just the part of the fandom these last few years.
- Remember this time last year when Juventus were reportedly weighing up Manchester City potentially throwing in the neighborhood of €60 million for Andrea Cambiaso? Yeah? YOU REMEMBER THAT? Well, I’m guessing they’d be hard-pressed to get even half that amount for him now. Boy oh boy, these past 12 months have not been very good for a player who a lot of us thought might be a potential cornerstone kind of player going into the future. Now? It’s hard to say where the heck his form will go other than stay right where it has been for much of the past 12 months.
- I get why Spalletti and Yildiz let David take the penalty. I do, I really do. But man, sometimes you just gotta be the selfish one and let the best player on the team take something that’s very important rather than try and extend an olive branch to a player who’s struggling. Now is not the time for that — especially with so much potential chaos in the cards this weekend.
- After his first-half miss, you probably thought David was incredibly unlucky considering how the ball bounced after a really good scoring chance. After the penalty? Nah, that’s just a player who has the confidence level that’s close to zero.
- Kenan, take the penalties from now on. I don’t care who else is on the field. This is your team now. Take it.
- Yildiz is turning into Jimmy Butler in the NBA Bubble after every game because he’s carrying so much of this team on his very young shoulders right now.
- Juventus had nine shots in the first 20 minutes of the game. This felt like a preseason friendly against somebody from Serie B during those first few minutes.
- Juventus recorded seven key passes — SEVEN! — in the opening 23 mintues against Lecce.
- Juventus had six corners in the opening 30 minutes.
- At the 40-minute mark, Juventus had recorded 12 shots. But, as you can probably guess, only two of those shots were actually on target.
- Really appreciate Lecce fielding a player who has a name that translates into English as “Tony Rooster.” It’s after games like these where you need to laugh a little bit. Or at least try to.
- I know Juventus have very little room to operate in January, but man … signing a striker feels like a really important thing that needs to happen if the opportunity presents itself. David and Openda just ain’t enough unless something seriously changes.
- Lost in all of this nonsense was the fact that Spalletti switched to a four-man defense. He did!
- I miss when Juventus’ midfield used to be good and consistent.
- You should not be drawing games in which Kenan Freakin’ Yildiz touches the ball 106 times.
- I still have no idea what Cambiaso was thinking with that pass that handed Lecce their goal. I really don’t.
- Filip Kostic came on in the 69th minute (nice?) and touched the ball 46 times. FORTY-SIX TIMES! That’s insane.
- Wladimiro Falcone, one of the best names in Serie A right now, made a couple of really nice saves.
- Michele Di Gregorio, who looks like a viking and has a very deep voice, didn’t record a single save because Lecce barely had the chance to attack outside of their goal.
- I’m 1,500 words into this post and I’m still just shaking my head about this result. Seriously.
- It’s Saturday. I don’t have work tomorrow. Juventus just dropped two points in a massive kind of way. You can probably guess where I’m going with this, but I’ll say it anyways: pass the bourbon … and leave the bottle.
