Juventus are finally among the elite in Europe this season
It is easy to forget just how big of a club Juventus are, not just in Italy, but Europe. It shows just how strong Italian football has been over the years that there is a debate as to who its most successful side is, even though the Bianconeri have almost double the amount of league titles than anyone else.
Because Milan have been so successful in the Champions League, which is perceived as the bigger competition to win, with seven titles across the two formats, some believe they are the Calcio kings. Juve have only won it twice, in 1985 and 1996, but are the proverbial bridesmaids, having lost six finals, the latest in 2015 at the hands of Barcelona.
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In Italy, if you ask a neutral fan on the streets of anywhere, not just Turin, they will tell you that Juventus are the true dominant force of the nation.
On the two occasions ‘the Old Lady’ have conquered the continent, neither really felt like a watershed moment. There has always been a feeling of them being a stepping stone to the ‘true’ elite, with a strange sort of irony surrounding a club so used to building dynasties in Italy, but have never quite managed it on a wider scale.
Alvaro Morata scored a crucial goal in the semi-final against his former club Real Madrid in 2015. The striker netted again in the final, but no one gave them much hope against a Barcelona side chasing a historic second treble. It is so often forgotten or ignored, but a Juve win that night would have closed out the second three-trophy haul in Italian football history. The Blaugrana ran out 3-1 winners in the end.
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Less than two years on from that night and on the face of it, Juve are suffering from the same problems, because their squad has been completely decimated. Real, who activated a £32million buy-back clause in his contract, snared Morata. Andrea Pirlo is playing in Major League Soccer, winding down his career with New York City FC, while his midfield partners Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba also departed.
Vidal joined Bayern Munich a matter of weeks after the Barcelona defeat, and Pogba’s £89 million move to Manchester United set a world transfer record just last summer.
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Yet, this time, the outlook is different. Even then, with full knowledge that players would leave, something was being built, something very special indeed. Juve are all but certain to win a sixth straight Serie A title, leading Napoli by six points after last week’s draw at the Stadio San Paolo. It will be their 33rd in total, and attention will once again turn to European competition. Coincidentally, their quarter-final match up will be against Barcelona, with opinions of who will prevail a lot more balanced than on that night in Berlin.
Having drawn against Napoli last week, and progressed into the Coppa Italia final at their expense despite a 3-2 defeat on Wednesday, Juve showed why they are not only the best, but perhaps the most hated club in Italy. Gonzalo Higuain crossed the divide between Naples and Turin in the summer after scoring 36 goals last season.
The Argentine was hero-worshipped by the Partenopei fans for three years, seen as the man to emulate his countryman Diego Maradona’s success with the club in 1980s, but his £70million switch made him a traitor in the very same eyes.
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Bayern Munich are known for maintaining their stranglehold on the Bundesliga by cherry-picking their domestic rivals’ best players. Not only did Juve have the arrogance to lure Higuain, but they also signed Bosnian playmaker Miralem Pjanic from another title challenger, Roma.
Adding to the likes of Dani Alves and Alex Sandro, two Brazilian full-backs who have also arrived since the Champions League final, both Higuain and Pjanic have arguably made coach Massimiliano Allegri’s side stronger than ever.
The jewel in the crown is most definitely young Argentine Paulo Dybala. The 23-year-old shadow striker is not known for goals in the manner of Higuain, but rather his close control and link-up play. This is a team which know their system; they have not so much as dropped a point in the league at home all season and the feeling of invincibility coursing through them.
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Dybala is among the most wanted players in Europe this summer, with Real Madrid again said to be interested in signing Juve’s most coveted. Rather than entertaining the idea of a departure in the way Morata, Vidal and Pogba did, he looks set to sign a new contract, proof of the work started before defeat to Barcelona in Berlin finally coming to fruition.
Juventus’ time is now. Nobody has ever won back-to-back Champions League titles, so building a long-standing dynasty will be tough, but when they meet Barcelona again, they will not do so as the plucky overachievers, but genuine contenders. The Bianconeri may finally be the team to beat, not just in Italy, but Europe, this year.