Napoli’s loss to Roma on Monday handed Juventus their fifth consecutive Scudetto, a feat only previously achieved in Italy by the bianconeri themselves (1931-35), Torino (1943-49) and Inter*. (2006-2010)
Aside of their first title under Antonio Conte in which they went the entire season undefeated, Juventus have typically strolled to the league title in these past five years. However, this season was very different. With Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal all leaving for greener pastures, new faces came in and were forced to step up. Well, they didn’t quite do this at first. Going into November, Massimiliano Allegri’s side found themselves in 12th place, 11 points off league leaders Roma. Today, they find themselves 12 points ahead second place Napoli and with the Scudetto in their back pocket. Looking back, it’s actually quite funny. By that same token, it demonstrates just how good Juve are in comparison to their competition.
In their last 25 league games, Juventus have claimed all three points in all but one occasion. If you’re not quite good at basic math, that means they took 73 out of a possible 75 points on their path to the Scudetto. Quite frankly, that’s a historic rate. With only Napoli in their way, the Italian champions steamrolled the competition and never looked back after Simone Zaza’s deflected effort beat Pepe Reina on that Valentine’s Day weekend.
Over the last few days, a lot has been made about Napoli bottling it. While they could have done better in a few of their games down the stretch *cough Udinese *cough, a team that drops two points out of a potential 75 cannot be stopped. We mustn’t also forget that this Napoli side is only in year one under Sarri while Juventus have been dominating Serie A together for the past five years. But I digress. Back to Juventus. They’re pretty good.
With three games left on the season against the league’s cellar dwellers, they may very well hit 94 points. To put things into perspective, they had 12 points after 10 games and already picked up four defeats on the season. Fast forward 25 rounds and they’re still on four defeats. In fact, if Juventus didn’t play any of those ten first games, they would still find themselves ahead of Napoli right now. But how were they able to do it? For one, Allegri doubled down with the 3-5-2 after experimenting with a 4-3-3/4-3-1-2 and provided his men with tactical clarity. On the other hand, his men stepped up.
Sami Khedira, a player who was supposedly finished when he joined on a free from Real Madrid, dominated the proceedings in the middle of the park and is yet to lose a Serie A game. Without a shadow of a doubt, the German international is the signing of the summer. Claudio Marchisio had a similar effect on the side and performed admirably in his first season as the team’s regista. It wouldn’t be much of an article on Juventus without mentioning the importance of Paul Pogba. Simply put, the Frenchman elevated his game to a level previously unseen from him and has emerged as Juventus’ go-to man. In his last five games, il Polpo has scored three goals and registered a further five assists. Pogba’s 2015-2016 has gone a long way to discredit the ludicrous notion that he’s only a vine player. Seriously, stop watching football if you still believe that.
And what about Gigi Buffon? At 38 year’s young, Buffon had one of the best seasons of his career and broke the record for most minutes gone in Serie A without conceding a goal. The argument could be made that he was actually Juventus’ player of the season. Of course, Paulo Dybala will have something to say about that. The former Palermo man was sublime all year long and made Juventus fans forget about a certain Boca Juniors man. Carlos, who? In most games where Juventus struggled to unlock the opponent’s tight defense in stepped la Joya and made the difference. Speaking of difference makers, the contributions from the underrated Mario Mandzukic cannot be forgotten. Six of his thirteen goals on the season have been match-winners. In addition to his crucial goals, the Croatian exemplified what it means to be a team player and improved the play of those around him with his unselfishness.
The performances of their rearguard must also be noted throughout their comeback. While Giorgio Chiellini’s season was plagued with injuries, Barzagli and Bonucci provided the stability needed down the stretch. Rugani also lent a helping hand and a calming influence when called upon. What’s that saying about defense and championships? Ah, you already know it.
The point I’m trying to make here is that I named about eight players who all played a huge role in Juventus’ success this season. What’s more impressive is that Alex Sandro, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Simone Zaza and Alvaro Morata among others haven’t even been mentioned yet. Scary indeed. How many teams in Italy can boast this depth? Well, none actually.
Fresh off their fifth consecutive Scudetto, Juventus are already said to be targeting a number of world class players in an effort to claim the club’s third Champions League. With the rest of Italy playing catch-up, Juventus are only extending the gap at the top and are setting themselves up for the next five while those around them are searching for one.
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