Champions League out against Villarreal
Frustrated by the next embarrassment in the “premier class”, Juventus Turin coach Massimiliano Allegri got angry again late in the night. He accused a reporter of “mental dishonesty” after speaking of a disappointing conclusion to the season for the Italian record champions after the 3-0 defeat against Villarreal. “Basta! Finito… finito… finito”, snapped the coach.
The journalist was absolutely right when he formulated his summary as a question: In the championship, Juve fell short of their own claims for a long time, the focus was more on qualifying for the Champions League than on the title. In the “premier class” the “old lady” suffered the third failure in a row in the round of 16. Turin is only in the semi-finals of the cup and still has a great chance of success. That’s far too little for the northern Italians who are used to success.
Juventus actually sees itself in a league in Europe with the big players, Liverpool, Manchester, Bayern and Madrid. When it comes to revolt plans and the founding of a super league, the club of club boss Andrea Agnelli is actually always at the forefront. Sporty but Juve is left behind. “There is no quality in this squad,” said ex-professional Patrice Evra as an “Amazon” expert.
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The injury-related absences of the European champions Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Federico Chiesa can be cited as mitigating circumstances for the failure. Offensive ace Paulo Dybala came on as a substitute shortly before the end, but could not prevent the bankruptcy after goals conceded by Gerard Moreno (78th minute / penalty), Pau Torres (85th) and Arnaut Danjuma (90th + 2 / penalty).
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The Turiners had determined the majority of the game and also had chances to score, for example with a header by Álvaro Morata or a crossbar hit by new signing Dusan Vlahovic, who cost 81.6 million euros. Overall, however, the hosts lacked the will and the clout. “Juve fell flat on their faces,” headlined the “Gazzetta dello Sport”.
“It’s not football as I imagine it, it was a step backwards,” analyzed veteran coach Arrigo Sacchi in the “Gazzetta”. He lacked “ideas, courage and class”. That’s how the Juve-Tifosi saw it, who said goodbye to their team with a loud whistle and left the stadium before the final whistle.
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“We can only apologize to the fans,” Bonucci wrote on social media on Thursday. “Now we need to turn the disappointment and frustration into anger as we face the remaining games to achieve our remaining goals.”
Allegri also wants to see a reaction – also to save his future in Turin. After five championship titles in a row from 2015 to 2019 and two finals in the Champions League, he should actually heave Juve back up after the failed coaching phases with Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo. Wanting to fight, he told critics, “Wait before you plan our funeral.”
Juventus still have hope in Serie A: Thanks to a run of 15 games without defeat, the Turin team is fourth with 56 points from 29 games and is only seven points behind the current leaders AC Milan. With Inter (59 points) there is only one direct competitor in the remaining program for the Scudetto.
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