Well, we all saw it coming. Juventus withdrew from the Champions League after suffering its fourth defeat in five group stage exits.
To be honest, the writing has been on the wall since matchday two when our home loss to Benfica left us six points behind, while the humiliating loss in Haifa pretty much confirmed the inevitable.
The Bianconeri were vastly outclassed by Benfica, who at one point came very close to extending their 4-1 lead.
Instead, Max Allegri’s men made one last attempt at an unlikely comeback, but it turned out to be too late, with the final score showing 4-3.
So here are our three lessons from Juve’s poor performance in Lisbon.
stab a fork
Leonardo Bonucci is the last remnant of the so-called old guard who oversaw the club’s nine-year winning dynasty. However, it’s time for a blunt assessment: the man is finished.
This is the sad reality that becomes starkly obvious with every new outing. Today, the 35-year-old can’t keep up with the pace of his younger opponents, or pull off the simplest of interceptions.
These days, Gleison Bremer and Danilo are the only reliable defenders behind us. Federico Gatti still has a long way to go to prove that he is worthy of Juventus, but at least he has a lot of room for improvement.
Let’s focus on these guys, okay?
Kostic without reward
The Old Lady’s performance in the first half was nothing short of abysmal, but Filip Kostic had to be the only bright spark in the team, while also exhausting himself from falling back to support his teammates at the back.
The Serb managed to get into crossover positions on the left flank and provided one dangerous ball after another, but his teammates up front squandered them spectacularly.
His corner kick provided the opening goal, but he surely left the pitch feeling that his performance was not rewarded as he deserved to have an assist or two to his name.
Youth invasion?
If Kostic’s plays were wasted, his replacement was credited with creating two goals. We’re talking about Samuel Iling-Junior, who wreaked havoc on the left wing and sparked Juve’s late comeback.
Alongside Fabio Miretti and Matias Soulè, the Englishman added some rhythm to the Bianconeri’s game, something the older players failed to achieve for most of the match.
This should definitely be taken as a clear indication about the need to trust young people more often instead of pushing them with the Hail Mary.
But at this point, we all know better. We know how things are going at Juventus, and we know how Allegri rolls, so we probably don’t have high hopes for a youth invasion.
So let’s cheer for Bonucci and Cuadrado in the next one!
