Juventus Turin’s impressive winning streak was broken against, of all places, FC Empoli, who were second to last in the table – albeit under significantly more difficult conditions.
Italy’s record football champions had to play around 75 minutes outnumbered after being sent off early, and the result was 1-1 (0-0) on Saturday (January 27, 2024). After winning seven competitive games in a row, Juve could now lose their lead in Serie A on Sunday. Coach Massimiliano Allegri’s team is only two points ahead of Inter Milan, the cup winners have to play away at AC Florence (Sunday, 8:45 p.m., live ticker at sportschau.de).
Milik sees red
Already in the 18th minute, Turin’s attacker Arkadiusz Milik (formerly Bayer Leverkusen) was shown red for serious foul play, but the favorites still took the lead through Dusan Vlahovic (50th minute). Tommaso Baldanzi (70th) scored the equalizer for Empoli. Last season, Turin did not qualify for the international competition after a ten-point deduction for accounting fraud and a subsequent penalty by UEFA. This season the “Old Lady” is consistently at the top, with Allegri’s team suffering their last defeat so far in September 2023.