Juventus 1 - Roma 1: Initial reaction and random observations

06/05/2024 00:35

Things somewhat surprisingly end with just two goals, with both goalkeepers making some highlight-reel kind of saves.

Under normal circumstances, Juventus recording a 1-1 draw against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico wouldn't be the worst result in the world. It was a matchup that certainly had a little bit of everything, and the one that left plenty of people saying "if you were a neutral, then you would have really enjoyed this one!" or something along those lines.

But us here at BWRAO, we're not neutrals.

And more importantly, these circumstances in which Juventus find themselves in are very much not anything that you would consider even close to normal.

An absolutely brutal start to Sunday's trip to the Italian capital was salvaged by Bremer's latest thunderous header to even the score before halftime. Somehow, even is how it stayed, with both teams having more than just a couple of chances to pull back in front. But thanks to the efforts of Wojciech Szczesny and Mile Svilar in each team's goal, the two goalkeepers didn't let the plethora of chances hit the back of the net, as the latest night where Juventus didn't have the best of luck in front of goal came to the fore once again.

We're left disappointed. Those who claim Roma fandom are left disappointed. We know this because you don't have to look far to find that out.

Ultimately, it means that Juventus have to wait yet another week to officially secure their place in next season's Champions League. The thing is, with all of the dropped points over the last 14 Serie A fixtures, Juve trying to do it against an already-relegated Salernitana — and trying to do so at the Allianz Stadium, no less! — doesn't seem as routine as you may think it is.

It's just been that kind of second half of the season.

It's just been a three months in which Juventus not winning has been the constant theme that has absolutely sucked all of the good vibes from the season.

And much in the same fashion as we saw last weekend against Milan, this was certainly a winnable game for Juventus — especially in the second half — but they just couldn't get over that final hump to break the deadlock. Some of that had to do with Svilar doing pretty impressive things in goal. Part of it was Federico Chiesa's brilliant solo effort needing just a little more bend on it so it goes into the side netting and not smashing off the far post. Part of it was simply not taking advantage of the chances that they did have, Svilar or no Svilar.

It all just ended up being the same kind of deal that we saw last weekend. Juventus could have won. Maybe they should have won with how they played in the second half. It was certainly there for the taking after a first half in which they were definitely not playing as well as Roma were. But that all-elusive second goal never arrived — and because of it this three-month stretch of barely winning anything no matter if it's Serie A or Coppa Italia.

It's all just .. yeah, at this rate, I don't really know what else to say.

This season has become a giant letdown after the calendar flipped from January to February. As we've watched Roma go from very much mid-table in ninth place when they changed managers, Juventus' struggles for three months running has turned what looked like a mortal lock to qualify for the Champions League now be something that is not secured with three games left.

For all of the faults this team has because of its manager or the holes on the roster, leaving qualification for the Champions League so late into the season where we continue to wonder when it's going to happen is right up there at the top of the list. Juve should be on cruise control right now because they locked up that Champions League spot. Max Allegri should be thinking of rotating his squad heavily ahead of the Coppa Italia final in 10 days.

Instead, a tired squad is now heading into must-win mode with three games to go. The thing is, we have absolutely no idea if this team, with two wins in Serie A since the last weekend of January, can actually go ahead and do it.

RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS

• Hey, guess what? Juventus are one step closer to securing that Champions League spot. If you didn't know, Max is here to tell you about it once again.
• You know, the same thing you've been hearing all season. At this point, I was hoping it would be a thing of the past. But with three games remaining, we're left to hear the same kind of quote about the same topic for at least another week. It's exhausting.
• A halftime opinion that remained true through the second half: Referee Andrea Colombo did a terrible job on Sunday and this is very much not a controversial opinion.
• Juventus attempted 161 passes in the first half.
• Juventus completed 136 passes in the first half.
• I don't know about you guys, but it's pretty hard to score goals when you barely have the ball! A further BWRAO investigation might as well follow to confirm such a notion.
• Dusan Vlahovic touched the ball 15 times in the first half, And even with absolute scraps coming his way, he still had one of the best scoring chances in the opening 45 minutes.
• Could we be seeing the reemergence of Federico Chiesa in the pre-injury kind of form? He was great off the bench against Milan, and he followed that up with the kind of man of the match performance against Roma that leaves you wondering about where he's heading form-wise with the Euros approaching. Some of the runs he made — and especially on the one that saw him nearly score — were those classic kind of Chiesa runs. That's what gives you hope.
• On the not-so-good scale: Juventus' defending on Roma's goal ... NOT GOOD.
• Like, seriously, think about what happened: Paulo Dybala spun Bremer around multiple times, Federico Gatti basically saw his "clearance" attempt go right to Romelu Lukaku and it's not like the rest of the midfielders/defenders were all that great either. It was just bad all the way around.
• A better moment from Bremer: his goal where he just hung in the air and got that much pace on the ball. It came off a brilliant assist from Chiesa, too — another one of those moments where he put Lorenzo Pellegrini on skates and put in a great cross with his weaker foot that Bremer thundered home. Good stuff, man.
• Can you imagine what Moise Kean scoring his first goal of the season just before stoppage time would have been like? And a goal that clinched Juventus' Champions League spot too? Oh man, the internet might have exploded.
• This was not one of Andrea Cambiaso's better games. But who can really blame him for being a little inconsistent knowing full well he's been played in a different position for the last month? Feels like he deserves a little bit of the benefit of the doubt on this one.
• I'm so ready for this season to be over. Just so, so, so, so damn ready. I was ready for it to be over weeks ago, but now? Yeah, even more ready. I'm so tired of this season. I want to write about something new, not these same old issues. Give me new dammit.