Why 4 Red Cards, A VAR Scandal And A Point Saved Can’t Disguise A Juventus Paralysed By Fear

Fino alla fine. Heard shouted from the stands, emblazoned on scarves and shirts, it translates into English as “until the end” and is the unofficial motto of Juventus, a clarion call to never stop fighting until the final whistle is blown.

On Sunday night in Turin, the values of that edict were on full display as the Bianconeri battled back from an 0-2 deficit to Salernitana. Gleison Bremer’s powerful header gave them hope and then, as Leonardo Bonucci slotted home the rebound after his penalty effort was saved by Luigi Sepe, the belief at Juventus Stadium skyrocketed.

Just a few moments later, a glancing header from Arkadiusz Milik hit the net, prompting huge celebrations from players and supporters alike as they thought they had snatched a thrilling victory from their opponents.

In the ensuing moments, the Poland international – who had already been booked earlier in the game – then seeing a second yellow for removing his shirt. But as Milik made his way off the pitch, the video assistant referee told the on-field official that he needed to review a possible offside against Bonucci because VAR can only make objective decisions and there was a subjective call to be made on whether the Juve skipper was interfering with play.

As Matteo Marcenaro made his way to the monitor, a brawl broke out on the touchline, resulting in further red cards for Juan Cuadrado, Max Allegri and Federico Fazio before the referee ultimately disallowed the goal.

However, shortly after the match, further footage was revealed which showed Salernitana’s Antonio Candreva was closer to the touchline than Bonucci and therefore in a position that played everyone else onside.

That meant that not only was Milik sent off for celebrating a match winning goal that he didn’t actually score, but that the officials managed to cost Juve two important points that their “fino alla fine” mentality had actually secured.

Yet, while the images of Candreva’s position and the contradicting views of Allegri, Salernitana boss Davide Nicola and many other protagonists dominate Italy’s sports media on Monday and beyond, the controversy of those final few minutes should not detract from what was on display in the rest of the match.

Juventus utterly dominated the first 20 minutes, playing in a far more proactive manner and with vastly increased purpose in comparison to previous games this season. According to WhoScored.com statistics, the Bianconeri had 74% possession over that early period, completed 91% of their passes and managed 3 shots, 2 of which were on target.

Then Candreva scored following a horrendous error from Cuadrado, and suddenly Juve fell to pieces. Between then and half time, the possession fell to 53.7%, the pass completion rate dropped to 85% and the Bianconeri had zero shots on target while Salernitana had another two.

It was a complete and total collapse, as the home side became paralysed by fear, conceding a single goal against the team who finished 17th in Serie A last term took control of the match.

Make no mistake, this was a side who dominated Juve for an extended period and who – like PSG before them – were unfortunate not to be much further ahead as they headed to the changing rooms at the break.

There are not many more damning indictments than that for Juventus, as they were outplayed, outthought and outfought by a squad that, according to Transfermarkt cost just £35.15 million ($41.07m) to assemble, with the Juve group costing almost tenfold that amount at £308.25 million ($360.17m).

The disparity in wages will be equally high, and the quality of players is almost incomparable. Indeed, Candreva was cast off by Sampdoria this past summer, Fazio by AS Roma, Krzysztof Piątek is on loan from Hertha Berlin after Fiorentina turned down the chance to sign him following a spell there last season.

To see such a side come to Turin and be so well organised, to play with such conviction and belief is a huge testament to the work of Davide Nicola, a vastly underrated Coach who constantly gets the most from every player at his disposal.

Beneath the VAR mistakes and the late fightback, what was once again on full display at Juventus Stadium is the inescapable fact that Max Allegri is not doing the same for the Bianconeri.

To go behind in a match, even against the run of play, is simply part of the game. Allegri has spoken repeatedly about the young players in the squad, yet only 19-year-old Fabio Miretti falls into that category, and it was 34-year-old Cuadrado who made the key error.

He has also constantly talked about the need for his new team “to grow” but fielded only two players – the goal scorer Bremer and Leandro Paredes – who weren’t at the club last term.

When the negative style of play was discussed recently, Allegri told Sky Italia “there is a difference between being beautiful and effective: you have to be effective. I don’t like being ‘pretty’ and not winning.”

The problem is, with two wins in six Serie A matches and a loss in their only Champions League outing so far, his team are not pretty or effective, they are frankly ugly and inadequate.

Furthermore, this latest poor showing comes just days before a game that the Coach himself has identified as the most vital of the club’s European fixtures as he downplayed the significance of last week’s meeting with PSG.

“If we want to be realistic, the most important game in the Champions League is at home against Benfica,” Allegri told reporters at a press conference last weekend.

Since returning to the club last summer, the Coach has constantly tried to dampen expectations, but clearly made an exception here. In doing so, he has turned Wednesday’s clash with the Portuguese giants a publicly held test of his ability to deliver results.

All supporters can do now is wait “until the end” of that game, and see if Max Allegri and Juventus can do just that.