October's Monthly Juventus Thoughts: Honeymoon

11/03/2024 03:40 PM

The feel-good period of the start of the season has (somewhat?) passed as Juventus has encountered a few bumps on the road.

October has to be one of the most eventful months in recent Juventus history. There was a red card for either Juventus (3) or the opposition (1) in the first four matches of the month. There were 21 (!) goals in the six games that Juventus contested in October; they were basically split evenly between conceded (10) and scored (11).

There were unlikely comebacks in Leipzig and Milan, last-minute own goals, defensive blunders, stunning solo goals, and so much more. Regardless of if we win titles this year or not, we can't say that we haven't been entertained.

Bumps on the road

We started the month with a comeback win in Leipzig on Matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League's new "league phase." The Germans opened the scoring thanks to a brilliantly executed counterattack in the 30th minute. Lois Openda played a beautiful chipped pass to his strike partner Benjamin Sesko, who took a perfect touch before blasting an even better shot off the crossbar and into goal. Despite playing well in the first half, Juventus went into the break behind on the scoreline. Not only that, but Gleison Bremer also suffered a season-ending injury early in the first half.

Dusan Vlahovic scored the equalizer a few minutes after half time after ghosting past a defender and poking in a great cross from Andrea Cambiaso. A true number 9 goal. But this is when things got a little crazy.

Michele Di Gregorio was sent off for a handling the ball (with the slightest of touches) outside of the box. The much-maligned Douglas Luiz then did the opposite a few minutes later by doing a handball inside the box and giving away a penalty. Sesko scored and restored his team's lead.

Vlahovic then scored one of the best goals of his Juventus career (though some of the free kicks he has scored have been fantastic) when he curled an incredible shot from outside the box into the top corner of the goal. But wait, there's more! Against all odds, the tiny Portuguese winger Francisco Conceição scored the winner after bamboozling left-back David Raum and shooting past the goalkeeper. Final score: a 3-2 win for 10-man Juventus!

Understandably tired from the incredible victory against Leipzig, the Bianconeri stumbled to a 1-1 draw in the next game against Cagliari. Vlahovic scored a penalty (awarded for a very harsh handball) in the 15th minute, but then missed what was essentially an open goal late in the game. It proved to be a costly miss as Juventus created but also missed many chances. Douglas Luiz gave away his second penalty in as many games when he clattered into Roberto Piccoli in the box late in the game. Razvan Marin scored from the spot to give his side an unlikely point from this match: 1-1.

Thiago Motta's team returned to winning ways thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over 10-man Lazio in their first match after the October international break. Despite the result, Lazio actually started the game the better team thanks to some very effective pressing that prevented Juventus from getting out of their own half. But all that good work was in vain when Alessio Romagnoli received a red card for a last-man foul on Pierre Kalulu, who somehow found himself in Lazio's box after storming forward during an attack. Romagnoli was sent off after a VAR review and Lazio's hopes of getting anything out of the game disappeared.

That said, they still put up a good fight with 10 men. In fact, Juventus needed an own goal from Mario Gila all the way in the 85th minute to break down Lazio and get the victory: 1-0!

Then came the worst Juventus performance in the Motta era: an abject 1-0 home loss against Stuttgart in the Champions League. The Bianconeri were completely clueless and our opponents dominated every aspect of the game. Deniz Undav scored a belter of a goal in the first half but, after a VAR review, it was harshly canceled for a handball during the buildup. The out-of-form Danilo was sent off for a second yellow card when his clumsy foul in the box led to a penalty in the 84th minute. Thankfully, we have the best backup goalkeeper in Italy — Mattia Perin — who dove low to his right to save Enzo Millot's penalty.

The only criticism that Stuttgart deserve from this game is their extraordinary wastefulness in attack given that they were equally good at missing chances as they were at creating them. But they had the last laugh in the 92nd minute when El Bilal Touré collected Millot's pass in the box, got away from two defenders, and finished past Perin to give his team the deserved 1-0 victory at the death.

If you thought the aforementioned game against Leipzig wasn't crazy enough, then I'll do you one better in the next game: one of the wildest Derby d'Italia matches in history. Piotr Zielinski scored Inter's first goal from the penalty spot when Danilo fouled Marcus Thuram and gave away his second penalty in as many games (not a good month for Brazilians and penalties!). The Bianconeri responded almost immediately with an equalizer from Vlahovic after a wonderful passing triangle between him, Juan Cabal, and Weston McKennie.

Remarkably, Juventus took the lead through Timothy Weah. The in-form Conceição dribbled past Henrikh Mkhitaryan and drilled a low cross to Weah who showed great flexibility to tap the cross, which came a little behind him, into goal. Mkhitaryan then redeemed himself by scoring the 2-2 a few minutes later. Things quickly went from bad to worse as this time Kalulu gave away a clumsy penalty after fouling Denzel Dumfries in the box. Although Di Gregorio got a hand to Zielinski's penalty, it wasn't enough to prevent the goal. And that was only the first half ...

Dumfries increased his team's lead when he scored the 4-2 after Juventus failed to deal with a corner kick. It seemed like that would be the final blow in this exciting encounter until teenager Kenan Yildiz came off the bench, dribbled his way into the box, and scored the 4-3. He then became the youngest player to score 2 goals in a Derby D' Italia (after becoming the youngest goalscorer for Juventus in the Champions League a few months ago) when he scored the 4-4 after Inter failed to deal with a Conceição cross into the box and Dumfries, for the second time in less than 15 minutes, gave Yildiz far too much space for a shot.

Final score: 4-4.

And ... breathe.

The final game of the month — a home match against the struggling Parma — wasn't quite as insane exciting as the Derby d'Italia, but it still kept you on the edge of your seat. Enrico Del Prato, a player who would go on to have one of the finest individual defensive performances you'll see in a long time, scored a header from a well-worked corner routine in the third minute to put his team ahead. McKennie equalized in the 31st minute, also through a header from a corner.

Juventus then conceded a sloppy goal late in the first half. After easily outpacing Danilo and running onto a long ball, Dennis Man squared the ball for Simon Sohm, who unleashed a powerful shot that went past Di Gregorio and into goal. The goalkeeper probably should/could have done better to prevent the shot, but unfortunately his efforts weren't enough. The Bianconeri equalized early in the second half when Conceição, who has been extremely productive with his assists so far this season, crossed into the box for Weah to finish. Final score: 2-2.

What a month!

Juventus Women

Juventus Women started October with a solid 2-0 victory against Sampdoria in the league. Cristiana Girelli scored just before and just after halftime to give her team a comfortable victory.

Next up was a hard-fought 1-0 victory in the Women's Champions League group stage against Norwegian side Valerenga. Sofia Cantore scored the game's only goal in the 29th minute for a crucial victory in what promises to be an extremely difficult Champions League group stage.

The team then returned to Italy to play defending champions AS Roma in a top-of-the-table league clash. Juventus took an early lead thanks to a goal from Barbara Bonansea. Estelle Cascarino's great through ball put Bonansea in behind the Roma defense and she beat the goalkeeper in the one-on-one to score the 1-0. Cantore made it 2-0 when she headed in from the rebound after goalkeeper Camelia Ceasar saved Girelli's initial header. Benedetta Glionna scored a goal deep into stoppage time for Roma, but it wasn't enough to prevent a 2-1 defeat for her team.

Unfortunately, Juventus suffered its first loss of the season when European juggernauts Bayern Munchen beat the Bianconere 2-0 in Italy for Matchday 2 of the UWCL group stage. Linda Dallmann and Pernille Harder scored the goals for the Germans. Juventus fought hard and came close to the 1-1 in the second half when Amalie Vangsgaard's shot went inches wide of the goal, but the Italians were ultimately outclassed in the pouring rain. Lastly, the Bianconere ended the month with a goalless draw in the Derby d'Italia against Inter.

Fallen King

It has been a miserable season so far for a man who was amongst Juventus' best defenders last season and has been such a good signing for the club. Brazilian defender Danilo has given away penalties, been sent off, and overall performed at a level dramatically lower than previously at Juventus.

It has simply been a night and day difference between the Danilo of last season (and the prior ones) and the one of this season. The burning question on everyone's mind is obvious: why have his performances declined so significantly and so suddenly?

The easiest theory that explains his decline in form is the new manager, Thiago Motta. Specifically, it seems that Danilo has been the biggest victim of the change in tactics and style of play. It's clear that the team is playing a more aggressive, high(er) defensive line and pressing more (although not as aggressively as Barcelona), which is to the disadvantage of slow defenders like Danilo.

Although he had a late start to the season due to injury, when he did return to fitness he still started on the bench. It's likely that Motta saw during training that Danilo struggled to adapt to the new tactics and, given that everyone was fit at the time, realized there was no need to play him.

Bremer's season-ending injury completely changed that. Given the number of games on the calendar — Juventus played six times in 28 days last month, while many players also played an additional two games during the international break — Motta doesn't have the luxury of resting Danilo anymore, regardless of his form.

Another possible reason for Danilo's decline is a simple one: age. The Brazilian is 33 years old and while he certainly still has a few good years of football left, his best days are behind him. A few months ago I estimated that Danilo likely has two good seasons of football left in him, which would mean that next season will (probably) be his last. If his current form continues, then I may unfortunately be correct with this prediction.

Overall, I have faith that Danilo will recover and that we've seen the lowest point of his performances. Nevertheless, his drop in form combined with his contract expiring in the summer of 2025 and his reluctance to stay at Juventus for another season means that this will probably be Danilo's last season at the club.