For the second straight week, Juventus were lined up against a team in which they are in direct competition for a spot in the top four in Serie A. And it was maybe even a greater challenge than last week no
matter how tough it has become to pick up three points in Bologna the last couple of years.
And just like last week, Juventus got a big win that Luciano Spalletti can almost certainly build off of and take into the new year.
In what was once again one of the better performances under Spalletti, Juventus continued their pursuit of a space in the top four. Coming into Saturday night’s showdown at the Allianz Stadium, we knew that Juve couldn’t overtake Roma just as they did with Bologna a week before. But with the 2-1 win over Gian Piero Gasperini’s squad, Juventus moved within a point of the fourth-place squad right in front of them. Plus, with everybody in front of them in the standings spending a few days in Saudi Arabia for the Supercoppa, it now means that things are even tighter between first place and fifth place than it was just a couple of hours earlier.
I mean, seriously, folks. Just look at how things are now when it comes to the Serie A table …
You can read it for yourself. Or you can just read what I’m about to say here: That’s four points between first place and Juventus down in fifth. It is a sign of how Spalletti is starting to get some things moving in the right direction, but also a reminder of just how much those dropped points are still holding Juve’s standing in the table back and will always be in the back of our heads no matter what happens over the next few weeks and months.
But with just one more fixture in the 2025 calendar year to go, Juventus were able to get through a big stretch in Serie A and the Champions League with only one loss to their name. It just so happens that the one loss was to Napoli, a team in which they could have beaten if they didn’t have a first half to completely forget. But even with that loss, Juve are right back in the mix thanks to their wins over Bologna and Roma within the span of a week. And with a schedule that is filled with mid- or lower-table teams over the next few weeks, this is the kind of momentum you’d hope they would be able to build and maybe have a big run in them going into the new year.
Plus, with the way they played for much of the night against Roma, there was just a whole lot to like.
Against a defense that had only allowed eight goals domestically this season, Juventus recorded a quarter of that total in quite impressive fashion. And if it wasn’t for a man of the match kind of performance from Mile Svilar in goal for Roma, that 2-1 scoreline could have been much more one-sided than that. Even before Francisco Conceição found the back of the net right on the cusp of first-half stoppage time, it was becoming evident that Juventus were very much up for it against such a strong defensive team. Spalletti, to his credit, got things right when it came to how he approached this, and Juve’s quick passing and overall movement was looking about as strong as it’s been in weeks, if not longer than that.
Throw in the second-half performance before Loïs Openda scored his first Serie A goal and made it 2-0 and you’ve got a team that had folks wondering what the heck they might have been watching. I mean, I know I was thinking it. The texts I got had the team of “Who is this team in black and white???” simply because they looked so much different than the team who had slogged through so many of their games before Spalletti arrived. There was just a different feeling about this one, and they showed it.
Whether it was Openda’s movement and stretching of a Roma defense that had been so good up until Saturday night or Kenan Yildiz doing all kinds of Yildiz and basically having the whole stadium waiting for him to do something great whenever he was on the ball, this was arguably the best version of Juventus we’ve seen under Spalletti in the two months that he’s been in charge. This is the kind of performance we want to see more often than not, and hopefully it’s something that Spalletti can truly get from them going forward.
Even if they gave us a nervy final 15 minutes or so, this was Juventus getting a signature kind of win that their manager can point to and say that is the way. The positives far outweigh the negatives from this win — and the three points they got don’t hurt, either.
This was a Juventus that needs to be seen more often, folks. And that’s something I haven’t thought very often during this calendar year of 2025. Now to finish the year on a high note next weekend, right?
RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS
- We need a prayer circle for Chico’s hamstring. That did not look good. Nor was his reaction to it.
- We also need a prayer circle for Gleison Bremer because we’re still not totally sure why he had to come off and if he’s actually injured again I’m not sure my heart can take such a thing.
- It was so disheartening to see Bremer sitting on the turf and have to be subbed off immediately after. The thing is, we don’t know if it’s just a match fitness thing or if there really is an injury there. So, unfortunately, for the second time in about three months, we’re waiting for Juve’s best defender to (maybe) visit J Medical to find out what’s wrong, if anything actually is.
- Plus, up until that point, Bremer was playing so damn well. He was just being his usual self — which is exactly what this team needs right now as they’re starting to build a nice little run.
- Nice of the curva to actually cheer on their squad from the opening whistle as compared to whatever the heck they wanted to prove the last time Juve were playing at the Allianz.
- Nice of Gasp to go with the “Remember these talented Argentine attackers you used to have on your roster” with his starting lineup in this one.
- I STILL MISS YOU, PAULO. THAT WILL NEVER CHANGE.
- Then again, Juventus’ current No. 10 is pretty damn good, too. And a lot younger.
- Seriously, Yildiz is reaching the level where every single person who roots for Juventus in that stadium is basically moving to the edge of their seat and you can just feel the anticipation building with each touch on the ball he gets. I said the same kind of thing last season, too, but this is becoming to the point where he’s making things happen so often that it’s hard to forget he’s also still got so much room to grow. He’s good now — just wait until he’s 21, 22 or 23.
- That shot he slammed off the post that would have wrapped up the win, can you imagine the reaction in the stadium if that happened? There is one undeniable star on this roster and his name is Kenan Yildiz.
- That cross from Edon Zhegrova to Weston McKennie that led to the second goal — just beautiful, man.
- That turnover from Zhegrova that led to Roma’s only goal of the night — yeah, not as beautiful.
- Those moves from Zhegrova to make Roma defenders look stupid — those are better.
- Was this Openda’s best performance in a Juventus jersey? Yeah, I think it was. Once he got into the game, there was no looking back. He was a complete nuisance for Roma’s backline.
- That also felt like Khephren Thuram’s best game in a good amount of time, too. Welcome back, KT.
- Daniele Rugani was pretty solid in relief of Bremer, but man did he provide a pretty big scare late on as Juve held onto their 2-1 lead. Don’t do that again, Dan.
- Speaking of Weston, I need to get something off my chest: GIVE HIM THE DAMN CONTRACT EXTENSION ALREADY. Thank you for (hopefully) listening.
- The marking on the back post on Roma’s goal was, to steal a line from the game thread, sleepy time.
- Juventus finished with 2.33 xG … IN THIS ECONOMY?!?!?!
- Seriously, if not for Svilar, that’s a big win by a big margin. That guy is good.
- We salute a nice glass to this win. And a merry Christmas to all. That’s a reason to celebrate.
