Juventus’ hard-fought 1-1 draw with Napoli yesterday was yet another sign of their attacking woes, which could see them miss out on a Champions League spot.
The Bianconeri picked up 1.3 expected goals in yesterday’s draw with the Partenopei, 0.6 higher than their opponents, and yet they were still forced to share the points at the Allianz Stadium. Massimiliano Allegri’s side sit three points behind 4th place Atalanta, who have a game in hand, and now the chances of seeing them finish outside the top four spots are rising.
Juventus have only scored 28 goals in their first 20 games of the season, less than every other team in the top half of the table except Bologna, who have scored 27. The team do have a decent defence, having only conceded 18 goals, but draws like the one picked up against Napoli yesterday are a sign that a strong defence may not be enough to secure Champions League football.
Allegri recently ruled out a move away for Alvaro Morata, meaning that he’ll still be pointed to in the search for the back of the net. The Spaniard has only scored five goals in the first half of the season, an insufficient amount considering the injuries to talismanic forward Paulo Dybala.
There were certainly concerns in the summer over Juventus’ goal output following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, and now those fears are seemingly being realised. Allegri will have to solve these attacking woes sooner rather than later if he wants to secure that coveted top four finish.
I can’t imagine Juve out of CL. I’d like to happen this but also it is bad for Serie A because Juve is good in Europe, unlike Inter and others.
@InterFan75 – As a Juventino I have to agree, CL without Juve would feel very strange. However they are only good in Europe in comparison to the other Italian sides, which is a pretty low bar unfortunately.
I’m a Juve fan and it’s normal if we miss out on CL. Only those who deserve to be in CL (those who fight tooth and nail for the top 4) All teams are going through cycles and this has nothing to do with the bad or the good of Serie A. Plus, we haven’t won anything in Europe for almost 2.5 decades
They got lucky to even make the CL this season and I highly doubt they are going to make the cut for next season. That should be 2 seasons out of Europe’s biggest competition, but Faraoni bailed them out.
I think this is good for Juventus to be out of the CL as it might finally wake up their boardroom to once and for all address their many shortcomings. If they were to sneak fourth spot, I can see them continuing this labored approach towards not properly building their team from the ground up. Juventus should never miss out on the CL given the fact that they are still clearly amongst the best 4-5 teams in Italy on paper. The squad is very bad in many areas but they still have some quality players and mentality is another key factor for their woes. They start games quite well and against Napoli they pinned them back in the first half an hour but cannot click in the final third. After getting the game back to 1-1 they should have gone for it, but we see with Allegri he is too scared of defeat. This allowed Napoli to mover higher up the field and pin them back. To play counter attacking football you need quick players who can play the ball to feet with rapid precision. Liverpool, City, Bayern and Real do that so easily. When you have Rabiot and then sub him with Bentancur there is no hope of playing that way.
Let’s put Chiesa as center forward, let me tell you why.
Lukaka was just taken to the village town square and humiliated while they showed him a writ of a fine to his estate-do you think he is now motivated to play or walk on eggshells.
Same thing for Morata, he knows Juve will let him go in June to Barca so why kill himself. Added factor is he is not S. American who tend to push for Juve, he is from Iberia and there is a pattern of unpredictability there.
I don’t like it, at least I trust Chiesa. I do not trust Morata.
Still plenty of time for Agnelli to “get lucky”…
We must top 4 don’t worry
I will bet on Juventus not doing it, reasons are clear to see. They do not have any back up strikers if Morata ,Keane or Dybala get a serious injury apart from the chance of them getting the virus is high. Not enough goals coming from other players. The Napoli game shows that other teams have alternatives that can make the difference. Tactically Juve are not going to score many goals in a match so that means they rely on the opposition not converting chances they will be given.
I have followed the bianconeri from the early eighties so it pains me to say that
this squad is just not good enough .I hope they prove me wrong. It may go to the last match again.