It has been a long time since we’ve said this, but Juventus are in fantastic form. Luciano Spalletti saw his team win every game in December outside of the loss against his former team, Napoli, though
based on the second half of that game, a draw may have been a fairer result.
More impressively, Juventus have only lost one game against teams in the top six so far this season, which shows that we’re a team that has to be taken more seriously. There’s still some way to go before we can say that we’re genuine contenders for the Scudetto, but if we can maintain the progress made in the last 1-2 months then maybe, just maybe, we could return to our former glory sooner rather than later.
Revival
We started the month with a solid 2-0 home victory in the Coppa Italia over Udinese. Jonathan David forced an own goal from defender Matteo Palma in the 23rd minute and we were generally comfortable from that point onward. Udinese had no offensive threat at all during the game as they managed a mere three shots (zero on target) all game. Kenan Yildiz showed tremendous workrate and grinta to win a penalty in the second half after chasing down a loose ball in the box that he really had no chance of getting. After a lengthy, lengthy VAR review, substitute Manuel Locatelli scored from the spot. The Bianconeri cruised to a victory without breaking too much of a sweat against Udinese: 2-0.
The next game was the much-awaited Battle of the Exes. Spalletti returned to Naples to face his former club Napoli while Antonio Conte faced his former club Juventus. Unfortunately, Napoli completely outplayed us in the first half as Brazilian winger David Neres ran the show. Neres created the first goal when a burst of pace got him into the box and Rasmus Højlund converted his low cross. Time after time the Brazilian dribbled past the equally-fast Cabal, who received a yellow card in the first half and (somewhat thankfully) went off injured at half-time. Napoli’s dominance was likely in part due to Spalletti’s failed experiment to play Yildiz as a false-nine in the first half.
Somehow, Juventus clawed its way back into the game after a fantastic piece of play involving a typically-brilliant defensive tackle from Locatelli and a great passing combination between Weston McKennie, Andrea Cambiaso, and Kenan Yildiz. McKennie played a throughball to Yildiz who hit a low, accurate shot into the far corner from a difficult angle. Ironically, it came from Yildiz making a false-nine type of movement when … he was no longer playing as a false nine.
Spalletti’s men stabilized the match and recovered well from the disastrous first half. Just when it seemed like we were going to close out the game and get a useful draw from a difficult match, something happened that rarely, if ever happens: a McKennie error. The American inexplicably cleared a cross straight to Højlund in the middle of the box, who gratefully nodded home the winner past a helpless Michele Di Gregorio in goal. A bitter defeat in Naples: 2-1.
We bounced back with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Cypriot team Pafos in the Champions League. It was another match in which we played poorly in the first half, although this time we were lucky not to concede before the break. Anderson should have scored for Pafos when a deflected cross fell at his feet, but the Brazilian hit the post with his shot. Besides a difficult chance for Jonathan David that the Canadian shot wide from close range, Juventus basically created nothing in the first half as the fans booed the team off the pitch at half-time.
Things changed in the second half.
McKennie redeemed himself from that terrible error in the Napoli game by essentially creating the first goal out of nothing. Receiving a ball in the box from Cambiaso, the American turned and fired a thunderous near-post shot into the roof of the net from just inside the box. David scored the team’s second on a counterattack in the 73rd minute that involved him, Yildiz, and Conceição: 2-0!
The Bianconeri recorded another clean sheet victory in the next game against the impressive Bologna. It was arguably the team’s best defensive performance of the match as we frustrated a very good Bologna team away from home. Juan Cabal scored the game’s only goal, a header from a corner (!), in the 64th minute. The game was truly over when defender Torbjørn Heggem committed a last-man foul on substitute Lois Openda after misjudging a long ball from goalkeeper Di Gregorio. Final score: a highly impressive 1-0 victory.
From our best defensive performance to arguably our best offensive performance of the season: a home match against the league’s best defense, AS Roma. The Bianconeri showed some fantastic attacking combinations as it was a rare occasion in which not one, not two, but all three attackers had great games. Openda, in particular, finally played well in his entertaining battle with young Polish defender Jan Ziółkowski.
Conceição should have scored early in the first half but his shot was straight at keeper Mile Svilar. Second time is a charm though, as Yildiz passed to Cambiaso, who played a delightful backheel to Conceição in the box. The Portuguese winger smashed a low left-footed shot into the far corner to give us the lead right before half-time!
The aforementioned Openda then scored his first league goal for Juventus. Substitute Edon Zhegrova whipped a dangerous cross into the box that McKennie headed at goal. Svilar saved but the ball fell back to the American who poked the ball to Openda to tap into an open goal. Substitute Tommaso Baldanzi brought his team back into the game when he tapped in a rebound after Di Gregorio saved a powerful shot from Evan Ferguson, but it wasn’t enough to deny Juventus an incredibly impressive 2-1 victory!
We ended the month with a tricky 2-0 away victory against Pisa. Alberto Gilardino’s team could have taken the lead not once but twice, as Stefano Moreo and Mattéo Tramoni both hit the post/crossbar from headers. Lloyd Kelly (of all people) then hit the post with a shot that surprised goalkeeper Adrian Šemper at his near post. There was a huge sense of relief when we finally took the lead in the 73rd minute through (what I believe was) an own goal from Arturo Calabrese. McKennie (again!) sent a low cross into the box after a neat bit of passing on the right side of the pitch that was deflected into goal by a combination of Calabrese and Kalulu. That goal took all the momentum and confidence out of Pisa, who defended well up till that point. The killer goal came in the 92nd minute through a counterattack involving a fantastic piece of skill from Miretti, an (accidental?) assist from David, and an easy-tap in for goalscorer Yildiz.
Final score: 2-0 as Juventus end the calendar year with 10 goals scored, three goals conceded, five wins, and one loss from six games played in December.
Juventus Women
Juventus Women enjoyed a goal-filled month to end the calendar year. First, there was a relatively tense 1-1 draw with AS Roma. Former Juventina Valentina Bergamaschi scored for Roma with a nice shot from the edge of the box but Emma Stølen Godø was the architect of the equalizer. She weaved her way into the box and sent a low cross towards goal that goalkeeper Rachele Baldi saved. Tatiana Pinto pounced on the rebound to equalize for Juventus: 1-1.
Next up, a trip to Austria for a Champions League match. Amalie Vangsgaard scored the team’s first goal in the 6th minute after a scramble in the box from a corner kick. Cristiana Girelli doubled our lead from the penalty spot after Vangsgaard caused chaos in the box and forced a handball from a defender.
Girelli scored another penalty after an hour of play to put the Bianconere firmly in control of the match. Pinto scored her second goal in as many games after a wonderful bit of play involving a Girelli dummy and a powerful shot from Pinto to beat the goalkeeper. This was seemingly a move that the team had practiced on the training ground as another Girelli dummy resulted in Paulina Krumbiegel scoring the game’s fifth and final goal in the 81st minute: 5-0!
The next game against Napoli in the league was not as easy. Kinga Kozak gave her team the lead just before half time but Chiara Beccari equalized immediately after the break thanks to an assist from substitute Estela Carbonell, who had just come on at half-time. Michela Cambiaghi scored a fine volley after a deflected cross from Krumbiegel to win the game for the Bianconere: 2-1!
Another tough game followed, this time in the Champions League. Juventus lost 1-0 to Manchester United due to an early goal from Jessica Park. Despite the loss, we still qualified for the play-off round and will play German team Wolfsburg in the two-legged playoff.
We closed the year with a thumping 7-1 victory over Cesena in the Coppa Italia Round of 16. Cambiaghi twice (once from the penalty spot) and her teammates Cristina Libran, Krumbiegel (2x), Vangsgaard, and Martina Rosucci scored the other goals. Juventus academy graduate Marta Zamboni scored for Cesena right after the Bianconere’s second goal but it did little to prevent a heavy loss for her team.
Bulletproof
December was a great month for the Juventus defense. Despite playing three teams who were, at the time, above us in the table, we only conceded three goals in six games and kept clean sheets in four of these games. We all know the old cliché because it’s largely true: title-winning teams are built on great defenses.
We’ve talked (i.e. lamented) on the podcast about how shaky Juventus has been defensively, mostly due to the injury-forced absences of the league’s best defender, Gleison Bremer and Federico Gatti. Perhaps also due to the instability caused by the changes at the coaching and upper management level in the last year or so, we lost some of our defensive stability.
That’s why I was so delighted to see the team secure so many clean sheets and concede so few goals last month, especially considering the level of opposition we played. Players like Lloyd Kelly have stepped up in the absence of Bremer and Gatti and has played excellently. Kalulu has played every single minute of Juventus games and been tremendous. Even Koopmeiners is slowly, slowly improving his performances by playing in the unusual left-center back position (an experiment I’m still uncertain about).
But let’s not just focus on the defensive players when giving credit to the team’s defense. After all, the attack is the first line of defense. Despite his lack of goals, David is often amongst the top players for distance covered in the first 45-60 minutes of games, showing his work-rate off the ball, while Yildiz has learned to track back a lot when the team does not have the ball.
I still doubt that we’ll be anywhere near the Scudetto this season but I will be closely tracking our defensive record in 2026 because any chance of an unexpected run for the title will depend on our ability to go back to our roots: our defense.
