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The 2015-16 season proved that the Juventus juggernaut was truly unstoppable. The Bianconeri made a disastrous to the start of the season yet they still ended up winning a fifth consecutive Scudetto with three games to spare.
Gonzalo Higuain’s record-breaking form in front of goal had sparked giddy talk of a first title triumph since 1990 for Napoli but the Partenopei’s challenge was derailed by a 1-0 loss in Turin.
Juve had initially struggled to come to terms with their Champions League final loss to Barcelona, while the losses of Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo were keenly felt in midfield, particularly by Paul Pogba, who seemed burdened by the responsibility of wearing the No.10 jersey.
However, Sami Khedira eventually settled, Alex Sandro proved an exciting addition at left-back, Mario Mandzukic offered more resilience and aggression in attack than Alvaro Morata and the seemingly ageless Gianluigi Buffon broke Sebastiano Rossi’s record for minutes without conceding a Serie A goal.
Juve’s key man, though, was Paulo Dybala, the summer signing from Palermo who achieved the seemingly impossible by ensuring that the inspirational Carlos Tevez wasn’t missed in the slightest.
CHANGES
Juve weren’t the only active side in the transfer market. After their dismal 10th-placed finish the season before, Milan chose Sinisa Mihajlovic to replace Pippo Inzaghi and, after years of parsimony, Silvio Berlusconi spent big, bringing in Carlos Bacca, Alessio Romagnoli, Andrea Bertolucci and Luiz Adriano.
The Rossoneri also thought they had wrapped up a deal for Geoffrey Kondogbia but the Frenchman instead opted to join city rivals Inter. It looked like quite the coup for the Nerazzurri but the former Monaco ace proved a massive waste of €40m.
Inter fared better with the likes of Miranda and Ivan Perisic but Martin Montoya, Stevan Jovetic and Adem Ljajic also disappointed at San Siro.
Elsewhere, Lazio successfully hijacked Fiorentina’s move for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and…
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/another-double-for-unstoppable-juventus-serie-a-in-2015-16/93
Author : [email protected] (Martin Macdonald)
Publish date : 2024-08-02 15:00:00
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