\n<\/p>\n
No matter who has been the head coach and where in the schedule Juventus may have been over the last couple of months, the first fixture in the month of May has been one that has been circled the entire time. As the possibility of Juventus finishing in the top four has become more and more precarious, the trip to Bologna has become just the more important.<\/p>\n
That day during the first weekend of May is upon us.<\/p>\n
A Juventus squad that is far from full strength \u2014 gee, where have we heard that before this season? \u2014 head to the Renato Dall\u2019Ara this weekend to try and increase their chances of finishing in the top four. The good thing for Igor Tudor\u2019s side is that they are currently in control of their top four destiny, entering Sunday night\u2019s trip to Bologna in fourth place and a point ahead of the team they will be lining up against this weekend. The bad news is that it\u2019s been incredibly hard to predict what Juventus will show up for a while now, and the fact that Tudor will be without some of his best players this weekend will make that fact even tougher as they face a Bologna side that has shown in recent weeks it is capable of getting points against both of the Serie A title challengers.<\/p>\n
Not exactly an ideal situation now is it?<\/p>\n
But this is nothing new for both of the Juventus managers this season. It\u2019s been a season of so much going wrong and things being such an uphill battle at times that it\u2019s all added up to why Juve are where they are with four games to go.<\/p>\n
Yet, at the same time, Juventus are in fourth place. They are in control of their own destiny when it comes to finishing in the top four. They are the team that all of the other competitors for a spot in the top four \u2014 and there are certainly a lot of them! \u2014 are chasing. That means if they take care of business the next four weeks, then they\u2019re in the Champions League next season. It\u2019s as simple as that.<\/p>\n
But nothing about this season is simple. And nothing about this five-team logjam that\u2019s separated by all of three points from Juventus in fourth to Fiorentina in eighth is simple. All five of those teams play Sunday \u2014 including two head-to-head six-pointers that will either add to the chaos or just continue to keep things as tightly packed as they are now.<\/p>\n
For Tudor, though, it\u2019s pretty obvious that the next two weeks are crucial considering it\u2019s against two teams directly behind his squad in the standings. You drop points in either one or both of the Bologna and Lazio fixtures, then your chances of finishing in the top four ain\u2019t looking so hot not matter how jam-packed everything currently is.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s trip to Bologna might prove to be the toughest of them all.<\/p>\n
We know how Vincenzo Italiano wants to play \u2014 he will press, press some more and then press into the final minutes despite his team not looking like it\u2019s all that tired. How Juventus handle all the pressure will go a long way in how things play out at the Dall\u2019Ara \u2014 which has been a place in which Bologna have won five of their last six home games.<\/p>\n
Bologna\u2019s form on the whole has slowed a bit compared to what we saw in January, February and then into March. But that doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019re any the less dangerous \u2014 especially so with Juventus\u2019 starting lineup far from at full strength in defense and up front. <\/p>\n
It all adds up to a huge clash for a spot in the top four to cap off a Sunday in which Juve will take the field knowing what all of the other clubs behind them vying for that same spot have done. Sometimes that has helped this season, other times it\u2019s ended up being a complete mess. There\u2019s sometimes no in-between with this Juve team \u2014 and that could spell trouble against Bologna if the bad half shows its face again.<\/p>\n