Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, you needed to be the best of the best to eliminate Juventus from the UEFA Champions League. Juve lost to the eventual winners Bayern Munich and Barcelona in 2013 and 2015, respectively, before falling to Pep Guardiola’s all-encompassing Bayern side in 2016, followed by back-to-back eliminations to an eventually victorious Real Madrid side.
Since then, however, it’s undeniable that Juve have become far less of an imposing presence both in Serie A as well
as Europe. After losing to Ajax, Lyon, Porto, and Villarreal, Juve were eliminated from the group stage before missing out entirely in 2023-24, followed by a play-off round elimination to PSV Eindhoven. And after a humiliating 5-2 defeat at Galatasaray, all signs pointed to the Bianconeri missing out on the Round of 16 once again.
Instead, they fought back valiantly, putting an end to their three-match losing streak and five-match winless run in all competitions with a heroic display in Turin. After taking the lead before halftime, it seemed that Juve’s comeback hopes were done and dusted when Lloyd Kelly was sent off. Instead, they valiantly fought back and scored twice, and they very nearly ended up winning the tie, only to settle for extra time, where Gala scored twice to seal their ticket to the Round of 16.
Two things can be true: 1) Juventus delivered one of their finest performances of the season on Wednesday, and 2) there is absolutely no excuse for a club of Juve’s stature to be getting knocked out by Galatasaray.
But just what exactly needs to change for the Bianconeri? Let’s dive deep.
Goalkeeper
From Gianluigi Buffon to Wojciech Szczęsny, it’s clear that Juve fans have been spoiled with elite goalkeepers the last couple of decades. When Juve signed Season Michele Di Gregorio, the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Season in the 2023-24 campaign, for a fee rising to €20 million, it seemed they had found their next top shot-stopper. Juve fans were willing to look past a number of things, from his somewhat advanced age, to his development at Inter Milan’s academy, to the fact that his sole top-level performances came at a provincial club like Monza.
Less than two years after that signing, it’s undeniable that Di Gregorio hasn’t quite lived up to expectations. He has struggled to impose himself in the biggest of occasions, conceding 3-plus goals to the likes of Inter (twice) Atalanta, Galatasaray, and Borussia Dortmund this season. It’s one thing to not exactly cover yourself in glory, it’s another to actively undermine your team with a run of mind-boggling errors.
Juve cannot afford to hold onto a goalkeeper who, at 28, fails to inspire any confidence whatsoever in his defense. Considering that Mattia Perin will either be sold or remain in a backup role, it’s evident that Juventus are going to have splurge even more this summer on a goalkeeper. They could break the bank on Atalanta’s Marco Carnesecchi, or opt for a younger option like Cagliari’s Elia Caprile, or a more experienced goalkeeper like Tottenham Hotspur’s Guglielmo Vicario.
They cannot, under any circumstances whatsoever, continue with Di Gregorio in between the posts.
Defense
Giorgio Chiellini helped Juventus establish an unprecedented dynasty thanks to his stellar defensive trio alongside Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci. Now, as Juve’s Director of Football Strategy, he’s tasked with righting the wrongs of the club’s previous mismanagement and getting them back to the promised land. And as he looks to overhaul the squad this summer, one of the biggest areas to fix will undoubtedly be defense.
Let’s face it: Despite his improvement under Luciano Spalletti, Lloyd Kelly simply isn’t good enough to be a starter for Juve. Neither are Federico Gatti or Teun Koopmeiners — who has been forced to deputize at the back this season following Gleison Bremer’s injury. You could argue that Bremer is the only player who belongs in the upper echelon of Serie A defenders, and even then, it’s clear that his body is starting to let him down.
Juve face the prospect of having to sign not just one, but two central defenders this summer. Pierre Kalulu is probably just good enough to remain as the starter on the right side of defense, but the left back remains an incognito. Juan Cabal has not been the same since returning from injury, whilst Andrea Cambiaso, for all of his attacking verve, remains a deer in the headlights when going up against a top-class winger.
Expect some heavy changes this summer in defense.
Center forward
Whilst Juve have a strong midfield core to build around in Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli and Khéphren Thuram, it’s clear that their attack still needs plenty of work. Compare their center forward options to the teams who are in the Round of 16, and it’s undeniable that none of them can lay a glove to the likes of Harry Kane, Julián Alvarez, Hugo Ekitiké, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland.
Neither Loïs Openda nor Jonathan David have managed to prove themselves capable of filling Dušan Vlahović’s void in their inaugural season in Turin — in fact, neither of them have even proven themselves worthy of continuing another season. But unless Juve can agree a significant salary cut for Vlahović, they shouldn’t be trying to work out a contract extension with the Serbian striker either.
Juve have no other choice but to sign one top-level center forward this summer, the only question is, who? Randal Kolo Muani is reportedly the top target, with the Frenchman struggling to impress both at his parent club Paris Saint-Germain as well as his loan club Tottenham Hotspur. Having shown signs of promise during his previous loan spell in Turin, there’s no reason that Juve shouldn’t be trying to bring him back as long as the price is right.
Depth
Last but not least, arguably the biggest area for improvement is depth.
Juve have a strong spine in Locatelli, Kalulu, McKennie, Bremer, Thuram, and Kenan Yıldız, but they need to put top-quality players around them. Whereas Gala manager Okan Buruk was able to bring on the likes of Leroy Sané, Mauro Icardi and İlkay Gündoğan, when Spalletti turned to his bench, he found players like Edon Zhegrova, Jérémie Boga, and Openda.
If Juve are to compete for glory across multiple fronts, they need to be able to rest and rotate their top players. And in order to do so, they need to bring in more top-quality players. But what does that look like? Does that mean signing a veteran like Bernardo Silva and forcing Francisco Conceição to prove himself on the bench? Does that mean pursuing more young talents and building for the future? Does it mean doing the same thing that they did in 2018 by signing the same player — Victor Osimhen / Cristiano Ronaldo — who knocked them out of Europe in the first place?
