There were days in which Juventus holding onto a slim but important lead was something that they would see out on a regular basis. It was stressful, sure, but it was also a trait in which they became such a successful club once again. The defense bent but rarely broke, giving us the kind of faith that leads were actually in safe hands when Juventus were trying to protect one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
These current days are not like those previous ones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
We saw it in important fixtures over the last couple of seasons. We saw it against provincial sides, too. The same script repeated itself \u2014 Juventus tried to defend their lead, only for the opposition to level things up on the doorstep of second-half stoppage time and level things up just when you thought they might actually see out the win.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
We can now add Villarreal to the list of clubs that Juventus have seen score with only stoppage time to go. And not only was it a former Juventus player in Renato Veiga \u2014 yeah, sure, he was in bianconero for less than six months, but he still wore those stripes \u2014 but also in a second half where Igor Tudor\u2019s squad was the better side. Villarreal didn\u2019t test Mattia Perin in goal the same way they did in the first half, but on what proved to be one of the final scoring chances of the night, Juventus\u2019 zonal marking failed to keep track of their former teammate and arguably the biggest threat in the air on the field.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The end result was a 2-2 draw on Wednesday, the result of that ilk to begin the Champions League league phase and fourth straight on the spin for a Juventus side that could very well have been sitting just outside of the top eight if they actually were to get their first European win of the season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But the ifs can only go so far once again. This Juventus team has now only won one game \u2014 the Derby d\u2019Italia thriller \u2014 since the September international break ended. At least when it comes to the results, it\u2019s suddenly looking a lot like last season when it felt like all Juve did was record draw after draw.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Oh, right. The late goal allowed. I guess that\u2019s a reminder of last year and the ones before that, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It\u2019s the kind of gut punch in which feels all too familiar in multiple ways. Juventus were playing well as they ventured out on their second-half comeback that saw Federico Gatti score an absolute beauty of an overhead kick out of nowhere and Francisco Concei\u00e7\u00e3o turn nothing into something with a little bit of individual magic to put his team ahead for the first time all night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Even as the second half went on, it wasn\u2019t like Villarreal were incredibly threatening. Perin, the somewhat surprising starter in goal even with the rumors earlier in the day surfacing that he might get the call, wasn\u2019t forced into any other major saves like he was on multiple shots in the first half. It felt, at least a little bit, like Juve were actually in control of things and were going to see this thing out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The problem has become, maybe that\u2019s a little too naive to think at the moment \u2014 especially when there isn\u2019t a broad-shouldered Brazilian in the center of the Juventus defense like was the case on this day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
With no Bremer out there, this defense is pretty much the same we saw during the second half of last season. And that is one that couldn\u2019t hold onto leads and rarely recorded shutouts like they did the turn of the new year. The fact that Veiga was able to rise up like he did and wasn\u2019t really challenged at all knowing that this was the 90th minute is just inexcusable. You can\u2019t allow that to happen if you\u2019re marking either him personally or the area in which he is taking up. And let\u2019s face it, there sure were bodies around Veiga \u2026 not exactly challenging for the ball.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
This is the current state of Juventus, folks. They\u2019re still very much a team with flaws and a manager that made some good moves against Villarreal but also probably pulled the trigger on solely trying to defend the one-goal lead a little too soon. This game was there for the taking \u2014 I\u2019m 100% convinced that it was with how Juve played in the second half.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Ultimately, this thing where Juventus allows last-minute goals continued its trend of popping up in games that are rather important. As much as the stoppage-time comeback against Borussia Dortmund was two weeks ago, now sitting here and looking how this draw in the Champions League played out just has me thinking a different kind of way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
I\u2019m guessing I\u2019m not the only one going about that piece of mental gymnastics, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n- Man, if only Jonathan David had scored one of those chances he had, huh?<\/span><\/li>\n
- OK, so it\u2019s not just something to pile on David, but a 3-1 lead sure would have been nice to have considering how the rest of that game played out.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Also those couple of Weston McKennie headers that nearly found the back of the net would have been rather handy, too. Just a thought.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The Ex Effect is still a real thing and you can\u2019t tell me otherwise.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Perin had a good night in goal. Those two first-half saves he made obviously were great because it kept things within touching distance and allowed Juve to actually go on the comeback that they did. But actually allowing the corner that led to Villarreal tying things up to actually happen is a blemish on his performance. You come out like that, at that time of the game, you have to prevent the corner from happening \u2014 and he missed.<\/span><\/li>\n
- I love the Gatti story. I really do. But also, if he\u2019s your best defender on the field when you\u2019re trying to lock down three points in the Champions League, I just don\u2019t know what that says about your defense as a whole.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Then again, he\u2019s the same guy who is a center back and scored a goal like this \u2026<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
- \n
- Man, if only Jonathan David had scored one of those chances he had, huh?<\/span><\/li>\n
- OK, so it\u2019s not just something to pile on David, but a 3-1 lead sure would have been nice to have considering how the rest of that game played out.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Also those couple of Weston McKennie headers that nearly found the back of the net would have been rather handy, too. Just a thought.<\/span><\/li>\n
- The Ex Effect is still a real thing and you can\u2019t tell me otherwise.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Perin had a good night in goal. Those two first-half saves he made obviously were great because it kept things within touching distance and allowed Juve to actually go on the comeback that they did. But actually allowing the corner that led to Villarreal tying things up to actually happen is a blemish on his performance. You come out like that, at that time of the game, you have to prevent the corner from happening \u2014 and he missed.<\/span><\/li>\n
- I love the Gatti story. I really do. But also, if he\u2019s your best defender on the field when you\u2019re trying to lock down three points in the Champions League, I just don\u2019t know what that says about your defense as a whole.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Then again, he\u2019s the same guy who is a center back and scored a goal like this \u2026<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
- OK, so it\u2019s not just something to pile on David, but a 3-1 lead sure would have been nice to have considering how the rest of that game played out.<\/span><\/li>\n