We are at the half way mark of the Serie A season, yet for Juventus fans it has felt like much longer with the reigning champions enjoying a mixed bag of form.
The Bianconeri started extremely poor, languishing in the bottom-half of the table for the most part until picking up heading into the Christmas break by winning six of their last seven matches across all competitions and moving into fourth place, just three points off winter champions Inter. Massimilliano Allegri’s team also qualified for the round of 16 in the Champions League, where they will now face German champions Bayern Munich.
Story so far
At matchday six Allegri’s men had just the one win for the season, struggling to cope with injuries and clearly still adjusting with key players Carlos Tevez, Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo departing in the summer transfer window. The Turin Derby on the last day of October would turn things around though. Prior to the match captain Gianluigi Buffon had sent a clear message in the Juventus camp, announcing it was time for his teammates to either start picking up wins or face the exit door at the club. It was Juan Cuadrado who scored a last minute goal to ignite a spark in the Bianconeri and set them up for what would be a two-month undefeated streak heading into the Christmas break.
Juventus win their seventh straight Serie A game and move into 2nd place. Right back in the race for the Scudetto. pic.twitter.com/0jcvnOvzyG
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) December 20, 2015
The manager
For a while one would not have been blamed to think it was yet another case of second season blues for Massimiliano Allegri, however, he has managed to turn fan opinion around quite quickly yet again. Despite Juve dropping critical points in both fixtures against Monchengladbach in the Champions League group stage and losing to Sevilla on the final matchday, Allegri for the most part has executed his game plans to perfection and proved correct with his squad selection.
The case of Paulo Dybala comes to mind, with the Juventus coach heavily criticised at the beginning of the season for not starting the Argentine, who was arguably the sides best player when he was on the pitch. Responding to the criticism, Allegri said he was protecting the youngster and that he would not be thrown into the deep end too early in his Juventus career. A move quite similar to what was done for Alvaro Morata last season which then led to the Spaniard becoming an integral part to the side, scoring in the Champions League Semi-finals and also the Final.
Dybala looks to be following the same route and is arguably already Juve’s most important player. So far it is a definite pass for Allegri, who has managed to steady the ship following some big summer exits.
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Standout Player
This honor quite easily belongs to Dybala. The Argentine carried Juventus through some difficult moments early in 2015-16 and has proved decisive as the campaign has gone on. He spoke of the work he had been putting into the gym earlier in the season, in order to build his light physique and better handle the physical side of the game, something clearly paying dividends with Dybala scoring eight goals in his first 16 appearances and looking to capably handle the demands of playing for a club such as Juventus.
Prediction
Juventus will no doubt be involved in the finish for the title this season. The four-time reigning champions have discovered their best form since the start of November and are a dangerous prospect for just about any side at the moment. They have brought an unpredictability to their game this season, different to what we are used to seeing as they move into a new phase of their winning cycle. Providing they can stay fit in the second-half of the season, Juve will charge for the title. On paper they have the best team in Serie A and it is just a matter of carrying that consistency into the New Year and fulfilling their potential.
The main challengers will be Inter and Napoli, both sides are well coached and quite different in style to Juventus. Inter will prove dangerous due to their ability to grind out a result and defend a lead, however, Napoli are a side that need to be watched for their attacking capabilities, currently possessing the most dangerous striker in the league in the figure of Gonzalo Higuain. The Bianconeri has the edge due to the fact there is less pressure on them this season and so far they have been able to just take things week-by-week, although they also have the invaluable experience of featuring in the title race for the previous four seasons.
At the very least they should make Champions League qualification, though for the sake of scoping any predictions a little further, with a couple of handy pickups in January (such as a midfielder to cover Sami Khedira who is seemingly always injured), Juventus will be hard to stop.
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