Juventus confirmed that outdated habits are exhausting to shake as they fell to a 2-1 defeat towards Napoli on the Maradona Stadium this night, regardless of taking the lead. The loss highlighted recurring points inside the Bianconeri squad, with acquainted flaws surfacing as soon as once more in a recreation that required a a lot sharper mentality.
The guests entered the match totally conscious of the problem forward. Napoli, sitting on the high of the Serie A desk, have been decided to solidify their place and placed on a robust show in entrance of their dwelling followers. Nonetheless, Juventus began the sport brightly and created a number of possibilities early on, finally discovering the breakthrough. At that time, it appeared just like the Bianconeri may lastly safe a press release victory towards elite opposition.
Regardless of taking the lead, Juventus struggled to construct on their benefit. As an alternative of pushing for a second purpose to say management, the lads in black and white fell right into a defensive posture, an all-too-familiar strategy this season. Napoli took full benefit of this hesitation, rising in confidence as the sport wore on. The hosts equalised after which turned the match round with a second purpose following sustained stress on the Juventus defence.
(Photograph by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Pictures)
The defeat drew sharp criticism from pundit Giovanni Guardalà, who mirrored on Juve’s lack of ability to carry onto a lead and adapt successfully in such high-stakes encounters. Talking to Tuttojuve, he commented:
“That is one thing we’ve seen many occasions now. When Juventus takes the lead, they drop again, endure, they don’t have the flexibility to defend contained in the penalty space like previously. That they had among the finest first halves with braveness, conviction—they have been scoring proper from the beginning with Yildiz, Meret was good, however they may have achieved extra. They discovered the primary purpose on the finish and the sport didn’t appear to be on monitor, however Juventus may have managed it in a different way.”
Guardalà’s observations spotlight the group’s recurring failure to capitalise on promising begins. This was one more recreation by which Juve confirmed moments of brilliance however lacked the composure and killer intuition wanted to safe the consequence.
With their unbeaten run in Serie A now ended, Juventus should reassess their strategy. The loss may function a wake-up name, and with the stress of sustaining an unbeaten streak now not a priority, maybe the group can be extra adventurous transferring ahead.