Off to their worst Serie A start in 60 years, Juventus have continued to under-perform and underwhelm when in the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era. Manager Massimo Allegri hopes Wednesday was the turning point. Winless after four Serie A games and sitting in the relegation zone, Juventus got their first victory of the league campaign with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory at Spezia.
Despite taking the lead through Moise Kean 28 minutes in, the advantage was erased and became a deficit in the 49th minute as the hosts were clinical with their few chances. But then, the match turned with Juve’s most important player, Federico Chiesa, showing up big time like he did for Italy at Euro 2020.
The 23-year-old produced a moment of magic in the box by taking a nifty, unexpected touch by his defender to score the equalizer 66 minutes in when it felt like a goal wasn’t coming:
Six minutes later, it was Matthijs de Ligt’s chance, with the tall Dutch defender finishing expertly inside for what would end up being the winning goal.
The result is a big one for the side as they are now undefeated in their last three games in all competitions, and it comes ahead of a winnable game on Sunday against Sampdoria. Next week, Juve have to face champion Chelsea in the Champions League, so building some momentum now is key. Following the Chelsea game, they’ll face Torino in the Turin derby, Roma, Zent in UCL and then Serie A favorites Inter Milan. All of Juventus’ Serie A and Champions League games are streaming on Paramount+.
Wednesday’s performance wasn’t overly convincing from Juve, but they did produce 26 shots. It was also the first time Juve scored three goals in a Serie A game this season.
The victory takes them provisionally into 12th place, but they are still conceding an average of 1.6 goals per game. Last season, a poor one for Juve finishing in fourth, saw them concede just one goal per game.
