If it were easy, it wouldn’t be a Juventus season!
Right after taking advantage of Como and Roma choking away fourth place in the Serie A table, Juventus had the inside track to stamp their ticket with an extremely soft schedule after a tough visit to Milan to play Max Allegri the Rossoneri. Regardless of form, getting a draw at the San Siro will never be a terrible result, and I think most of us were OK with getting a point from the toughest game remaining in the season.
(Yes, even if it was an absolutely
dreary 0-0 draw against Allegri’s current team. Fun fact: 180 minutes between these two squads this year, not a single goal was scored. That’s real football as far as I’m concerned.)
So, naturally, Juventus immediately followed that up with something that we have unfortunately grown used to recently: a thoroughly disappointing draw against a squad much, much worse than they are! At home! Against a team that is already relegated!
Yes, instead of putting more of a point differential in between them and the chasing pack of Roma and Como, Juventus opened the door by dropping what should have been a surefire win against Serie B-bound Hellas Verona. Thanks to Roma beating their respective bottom feeder (but relatively safe now), Fiorentina, one day after, they are now just one point away from the Bianconeri as we rumble to the last three games of the season.
Technically, Juventus are still very much in control of their own destiny. Win out and you shouldn’t worry about whatever Como or Roma do, but considering the fact that even at this point this team continues to be liable to win or lose against anyone, what could have been a leisurely stroll to the top four to finish out the season will now be a gritted-teeth affair to play Europe’s biggest competition next year.
Let’s cook.
New Guardian?
As Juventus wind down their season, the siren call of transfer news is once again upon us with news of a new potential No. 1 in goal arriving for the Bianconeri.
Despite the fact that Liverpool has very much not given their OK yet to lose their starting keeper, getting a reported agreement on personal terms with Alisson Becker is a step in the right direction. Michele Di Gregorio has not been an outright bust since his move from Monza two years ago, but he has fallen well short from the expectations that his transfer indicated.
(Especially given that Juventus jettisoned a perfectly serviceable Wojciezch Szczcesny to a short-lived retirement to do so. Oh, Cristiano Giuntoli, you will one day pay for all that cooking.)
Mattia Perin has been fine, mostly, but at this point in his career he’s decidedly not a guy that should be competing to be the starter for the team, so getting a goalkeeper with Alisson’s pedigree is a savvy move by the Juventus board if the price is right.
Is he on the wrong side of 30? Does he have a relatively troubling recent injury history? Yes to both questions, but if he can stay healthy, the upside is very much there for Juventus. A big issue for this squad the last few years has been the lack of top-tier talent (and leadership) all over the squad. While having an elite keeper does not solve all your issues, for a team with such a talent deficit, shoring up the goal is a step in the right direction.
Put it this way: With a guy like Alisson in goal, Juventus probably win last weekend’s game against Hellas Verona. That’s not nothing.
Saving Grace
Back in the halcyon days, when I used to go to bars pretty much every single weekend, my friends enjoyed a watering hole deep in the trendy part of Mexico City. It was one that we attended regularly. It was overpriced and crowded and the music sucked. You had to get a reservation at least a couple days before to get in and while it didn’t technically charged a cover fee, there was an implicit requirement to either buy bottle service or be relegated to the hinterlands of the general dance floor with the rest of the poors and get knocked over by everyone either to and from the bar.
I disliked this terrace bar very much.
My friends enjoyed it because every wanna-be influencer girl and/or European expat frequented the place. I was the only one in a relationship at the time, so while I did not partake in their — mostly — unsuccessful attempts to connect with the aforementioned Instagram adjacent models, I was a good sport about it and tagged along.
Despite my general distaste for this place, I had to admit something, the view was spectacular. It was located at the top of an old building in the center of the city. If you got there at the right time and found the right place to mill about you could see the sunset cover the entire city and straight into the mountains. Once it got dark, the thousands of city lights engulfed the city. Away from the noise and hustle from below, the lights had a unique quality.
Both alienating and inclusive. I enjoyed that part very much.
Anyways, I dislike Dusan Vlahovic quite a bit as well, but goddamn can that man take a free kick. There’s nothing quite like having a good free kick taker in your team. Does it wash away everything else I hate about the man’s game? Of course not, but hey, he’s here already, might as well enjoy the little things.
Once COVID hit and my friends moved all over the country, I never went back to that place. I heard it’s still open, but it’s decidedly less popular now. I’ve flirted with the idea to go back and see if the view is still great, but I’d rather keep the memories intact.
I will not look back on the Vlahovic era fondly, but those free kicks were always the saving grace of his game and I’ll keep those memories intact as well when he — hopefully — leaves the club in three game’s time.
Parting Shot of the Week
We are almost there. Another cursed, mostly un-enjoyable season is crawling to the finish line.
I don’t know about you, but I’m getting pretty tired of aspiring to the top four every season and not much else. But, grander designs will have to wait. Let’s hope that Juventus can stamp their entry to the Champions League once and for all in the closing stages of the season and we will try again next season.
See you next time.
