The Bianconeri were 12th in Serie A after a nightmare start to the season but now sit second, just two points behind Napoli following a sensational run of 10 successive wins
At the end of October, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri was a man under serious pressure - just over four months after winning a domestic double. The Italian champions were 12th in the Serie A standings, having amassed just 12 points from 10 games - their lowest return since the 1987-88 season.
Bianconeri president Andrea Agnelli publicly expressed his concern before a meeting of the club's shareholders. "We knew the process of renewing the squad could create some problems, but it's not a justification for our current place in the table." It was a subtle but significant statement, a clear message to Allegri that results needed to improve - and fast.
The former AC Milan coach wisely concurred that there were no excuses for the Scudetto holders' poor start. "I agree with the president: Juventus should not be in this position... Around March, we must be in and around the front-runners."
Some wondered if Allegri would even still be in a job by March. However, we've not yet reached the end of January and Juve are already back in the title race. Going into Sunday's clash with Roma, they sit second in the table, just two points behind leaders Napoli. It has been a remarkable transformation.
Admittedly, nobody felt that the Bianconeri would not belatedly bounce back; it was more that few expected it to happen so quickly, given just how poorly they had begun their bid for a fifth successive league title. It is worth remembering that Juve had lost their opening two games in Serie A for the first time ever. Their loss at Sassuolo on October 28 meant that they had lost four of their opening 10 fixtures.
The Old Lady had played for 50 minutes with just 10 men in Reggio Emilia, due to Giorgio Chiellini's first-half dismissal, but captain Gianluigi Buffon had no intention of lashing out at the referee after the game. He knew exactly where the blame lay.
"It's very simple, if you don't win any of your 50-50s or aerial battles and you can't string together three passes, then that's no recipe for success," the Italian goalkeeping icon fumed.
It is undeniably true that Juve's players, for the most part, underperformed during the opening months of the season. But it is worth noting that Allegri's men were not playing as badly as the results suggested. There was an element of misfortune about their position. For example, in five of their opening 10 games, they conceded from the opposition's first shot on target.
"We are in crisis in terms of results but not in terms of performances," Allegri argued at the height of Juve's Serie A struggles. He had a point. However, the Bianconeri clearly had some issues to resolve: they were struggling to score goals, making an unusually high amount of unforced errors in defence and Paul Pogba looked lost in midfield.
There were mitigating circumstances, though. Last summer, Juve went under a dramatic overhaul in terms of their playing staff and the key losses were Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez. The departures of Vidal and Pirlo, coupled with Claudio Marchisio's injury problems, meant that Juve started their campaign with just one member of the midfield that carried the Old Lady to the final of last season's Champions League: Pogba.
Being bestowed with the prestigious No.10 jersey appeared to weigh heavily on the Frenchman's shoulders but the 22-year-old appeared more burdened with what he perceived as his responsibility to fill all of the voids left by sales and injuries.
"He must put his ideas in place and be calm once again and live and play like a 22-year-old individual because it is right and normal to do so," Allegri reasoned. "Too much responsibility has been placed on his shoulders, so much that a normal 22-year-old would struggle to cope.
"Nobody is asking Pogba to score three goals per game or to win games single-handedly. We just ask Paul to play as he knows how to, a bit more carefree, and make the mistakes a normal 22-year-old makes. That's it. It is easy to understand."
It took slightly longer to remedy, but Pogba is now back playing at something approaching his best. For that, both the player and his coach deserve credit. However, the presence of Marchisio and Sami Khedira alongside him has also been key.
Khedira, like Marchisio, missed the start of the season through injury - unsurprisingly, given his fitness problems at former club Real Madrid - but he has performed immaculately since his return. It is no coincidence that Juve have never lost with the Germany international in their starting line-up.
As for Tevez, his romantic return to first love Boca Juniors deprived Juve of their most prolific and inspirational attacker. The Argentine hadn't exactly carried Juve's attack over the previous two seasons, as he'd been ably supported by Fernando Llorente and Alvaro Morata at various intervals, but he had at least been its driving force.
Close to €70m had been spent on striking reinforcements but Mario Mandzukic and Simone Zaza initially struggled to prove their worth, while Allegri seemed strangely reluctant to put his faith in the precociously talented 22-year-old Paulo Dybala. Things have changed, though. Mandzukic is looking increasingly more like his old self, Zaza's form has improved to such an extent that Juve have no decided against selling him in January, while Dybala has been nothing short of a revelation since garnering Allegri's full trust, racking up 11 goals and 7 assists in 19 Serie A appearances.
Furthermore, from a defensive perspective, Juve's solidity has been restored, thanks in no small part to Allegri's decision to revert to a 3-5-2 formation - and stick with it (they played four different formations alone in their first 10 matches). They have kept nine clean sheets in their last 12 outings in all competitions, which has played a key role in their run of 10 consecutive league victories. Whereas Agnelli previously felt the results weren't good enough, now they speak for themselves.
"We missed many things in the first half of the season," Allegri mused during week, "but I was not worried because we changed so much over the summer. A period of adjustment was only to be expected. But we still have a lot of work to do and can improve further."
That is a very ominous prospect for Napoli - and the rest of Serie A.
- Goal