Juve back in contention for European football

Juventus found it hard to swallow last week’s defeat to Napoli, as a chance for a timid return to the title race fluttered away for an (un)defined period of time. However, the last four days have been days of smiles for the Bianconeri. The victory over Pafos in the Champions League brought the Old Lady closer to the knockout stage, while tonight’s win in a demanding away match against Bologna in Round 15 of Serie A returned the giant to the European places and pushed the Rossoblu down to sixth — 0–1.

This was not a match that will be remembered and retold, but rather one in which you have to be pragmatic, rational, and wait for a single opportunity when it presents itself. That magic recipe, that formula, was found by Luciano Spalletti on the bench. After an hour of play, he sent on left-back Juan Cabal and forward Lois Openda, and it was precisely this duo, along with goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio, who carried the greatest burden of the victory on their shoulders.

Three minutes after coming on, practically with his first touch of the ball, Cabal tucked the ball into the hosts’ net after a perfectly weighted pass from Kenan Yıldız, who made amends for a missed chance in the first half. That said, the Turk has no one to answer to, given that he has scored or assisted in five of Juventus’ previous six matches. The Colombian broke Bologna’s resistance, and five minutes later Openda significantly reduced their chances of a comeback and a possible equalizer. He replaced Jonathan David, whose goal in the first half had rightly been ruled out for offside, and the Belgian forced Hegem to bring him down as the last man, earning the defender a red card with about twenty minutes left to play. In the second half Juve controlled events on the pitch, but they suffered considerably during the opening 45 minutes. The most dangerous moments came in the fifth minute, when Michele Di Gregorio saved a powerful shot from Riccardo Orsolini, and in stoppage time, when Zortea rattled the crossbar.

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Openda had a chance late on to end his goal drought, but thanks to an intervention by Federico Ravaglia, the former RB Leipzig striker failed to find the net for a fifth consecutive match. With Vlahović injured, and both Openda and David lacking confidence, Juve are suffering from a serious shortage of goals from their own forwards. The situation is somewhat balanced by the output of their main attacking force, Yıldız, but without goals from the protagonists whose job description demands them, Juventus will struggle to win consistently. Speaking of Yıldız, among players who have been involved in at least 20 goals in Europe’s top five leagues over the past two seasons, only Lamine Yamal is younger than the Turk.

SERIE A - ROUND 15

Friday

Lecce - Pisa 1-0 (0-0)

/Stulic 72/

Saturday

Torino - Cremonese 1-0 (1-0)

/Vlasic 27/

Parma - Lazio 0-1 (0-0)

/Noslin 82/

Atalanta - Cagliari 2-1 (1-0)

/Scamacca 11, 81 - Gaetano 75/

Sunday

AC Milan - Sassuolo 2-2 (1-1)

/Bartesaghi 34, 47 - Kone 13, Lauriente 77/

Fiorentina - Verona 1-2 (0-1)

/Nunez 69 (og) - Orban 42, 90+3/

Udinese - Napoli 1-0 (0-0)

/Ekkelenkamp 73/

Genoa - Inter 1-2 (0-2)

/Vitihna 68 - Bisseck 6, Martinez 38/

Bologna - Juventus 1-0 (0-0)

/Cabral 64/

Monday

22.45: (2.15) Roma (3.30) Como (3.50)

*** odds are subject to change ***