Juventus 1 - Salernitana 1: Initial reaction and random observations

At this point, I don’t even know what else to say. Which, I know, for somebody who has written about Juventus for over a decade now, is not exactly where you want to be.

But what we saw from Juventus on Sunday was something that, in any other season, would probably have me left fuming and a very, very frustrated fella. In this season, though, it’s something that just leaves you shaking your head because you’ve seen it before, you’ve got such low expectations at this point that anything positive happening is rather stunning.

There was nothing stunning about how Juve played against Salernitana. It was more of the same from the last 3 1⁄2 months. For the 90 minutes of regular time, Juventus couldn’t score a single goal against a team that has been relegated, that entered their trip to Turin havign allowed 75 goals this season, have yet to win in the 2024 calendar year and have employed twice as many managers (4) than they have wins (2) on the campaign. If not for Adrien Rabiot finally doing something right against Salernitana on Sunday, Juventus 1-1 draw would have been their worst loss of the season by a country mile.

Just like what we’ve been saying for weeks now, there’s still no Champions League spot wrapped up. And after this FIFTH straight draw, Juventus’ UCL qualification is about as tenuous as it has been this season.

We’ve known that this Juve team has been down bad for weeks now. The performances of sub-par play and terrible results have just stacked up upon each other like the fancy cups that I used to take home with me after going to San Francisco Giants games. Just one after another, they stack up and you forget that some of them are there because you have so many of them.

At least I enjoyed collecting those cups and still have a couple still with me even though they’re probably just as old as Kenan Yildiz or Samuel Iling-Junior.

What Juventus put forward against Salernitana was something you wish you could forget — and not quick enough.

Juventus not only allowed Salernitana — a team that was relegated weeks ago and hasn’t won since late December — to take the lead on a terrible job of marking by Rabiot and Wojciech Szczesny not totally covering his near post, they also were the better team for much of the night. Yes, a team with two wins this season and has barely done anything right over the last five months was playing better than Juventus. That’s where this Juventus team was at on this day — just totally lost and looking like a squad that has no chemistry at all.

Those positive moments from the last couple of weeks against Milan and Roma? Gone.

Instead, we got Juventus playing about as bad as you can play — and doing so against a team that has been described as one of the worst Serie A squad in the 21st century.

Sure, you can say they were a bit unlucky when it comes to some of their scoring chances with Dusan Vlahovic and Fabio Miretti each hitting the crossbar and Andrea Cambiaso hitting the woodwork. But the thing with this Juve team is, you know they’re probably going to waste most of their best chances no matter how many of them they have.

But Juve didn’t win this game because of that. It’s something that’s added up to this moment. The overall product is putrid and that is why they couldn’t beat such a bad team like Salernitana. (A team, for the record, Juve beat 6-1 to start 2024.)

If not for Atalanta doing more Atalanta things against Roma as I type this, we’d be hearing about how making the Champions League is Juventus’ No. 1 priority for another week. The problem now is that there isn’t a potentially historically bad team remaining on the schedule. Bologna are fighting for the same thing Juve are apparently fighting for. Monza aren’t anything close to a cakewalk. This was the chance to make the final two league games of the season something without any sort of pressure. But now? Yikes...

RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS Wanna guess what one of the first things Allegri said to the media after this mess? How many points Juve are away from the Champions League. Yep. I’m so tired of this. Just so tired. I know you all are tired, too. It’s just been that kind of three-month stretch. I guess, in hindsight, the title of the most recent podcast episode was wrong. I hate this. Is it bad when you look at the starting lineup and wonder about how bad things are because you realize the only sort of creativity your team has is from a wingback? I think it’s bad. That said, Cambiaso was probably Juve’s best player on the field against Salernitana. (Not that it was a high bar to try and clear!) Dude had eight — yes, EIGHT! — key passes and the aforementioned shot that clanged off the left upright. Rabiot getting a rating of 8.2 on Sofascore is downright hilarious. Sometimes the computer formulas don’t match what the eyes tell you. (And I like technology and stats a lot!) That assist from Manuel Locatelli to Rabiot ... that was cool. So was Rabiot’s finish. That was not easy both because of the angle and because of how he had to contort his body to try and get his left foot to the ball. It all worked out ... somehow. That 45-minute appearance from Moise Kean pretty much sums up how his season has progressed. Same goes for Filip Kostic. Mark it down for another start where he got the hook at halftime. Not that Iling-Junior was a whole lot better. But again, a low bar to clear considering how poor Kostic was during the first half. Speaking of that first-half performance from Juventus overall, it’s gotta be one of the worst we’ve seen from this team during Allegri 2.0, right? Salernitana has a near-historically bad defensive record, and yet Juve could only muster all of 0.15 xG against them. Terrible, terrible, terrible all the way around. Congrats to Salernitana for ending their four-game losing streak on Sunday. Congrats to Salernitana for scoring their 24th goal of the season on Sunday. If you think this is me being very facetious and resulting to some sort of humor to hide the pain, you’re right on the money and you’ve probably read a thing or two on this site before. Atalanta’s currently up 2-0 on Roma. Please keep that lead so I can stop hearing from Max about how many points Juventus need to make the Champions League. Weston McKennie’s form has tailed off lately and I think how he talked after the Roma draw about just how tired this team is physically and mentally is something that is probably very relatable to him as well. Dude just expends so much energy that, at some point, you’re going to hit the bottom of the tank. And I think Wes has gotten to the bottom of the tank. I dunno about you guys, but Federico Gatti being overly involved in the attacking third of the field — especially in the build up of potential attacks — is starting to get a little tiresome. At this right, I know there aren’t any better options, but the over-eagerness is rather noticeable the more and more Juve start pressing for a goal. If Federico Chiesa had 45-50 minutes in his legs, why didn’t those minutes come to start the game rather than as a sub at the beginning of the second half? Don’t you think trying to have one of your best players try and give you the lead is a better plan rather than having him try and save the day off the bench? I dunno, just seems like the wrong move. But I’m just some guy on the internet, so what do I know. Waking up early on a Sunday to watch that Juve performance — that’s also why I’m tired. Pass the bourbon. Or the cold brew. Or, at this time of day, both of ‘em.