Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, you needed to be the best of the best to eliminate Juventus from the UEFA Champions League. Juve lost to the eventual winners Bayern Munich and Barcelona in 2013 and 2015, respectively, before falling to Pep Guardiola\u2019s all-encompassing Bayern side in 2016, followed by back-to-back eliminations to an eventually victorious Real Madrid side.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Since then, however, it\u2019s undeniable that Juve have become far less of an imposing presence both in Serie A as well as Europe. After losing to Ajax, Lyon, Porto, and Villarreal, Juve were eliminated from the group stage before missing out entirely in 2023-24, followed by a play-off round elimination to PSV Eindhoven. And after a humiliating 5-2 defeat at Galatasaray, all signs pointed to the Bianconeri missing out on the Round of 16 once again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Instead, they fought back valiantly, putting an end to their three-match losing streak and five-match winless run in all competitions with a heroic display in Turin. After taking the lead before halftime, it seemed that Juve\u2019s comeback hopes were done and dusted when Lloyd Kelly was sent off. Instead, they valiantly fought back and scored twice, and they very nearly ended up winning the tie, only to settle for extra time, where Gala scored twice to seal their ticket to the Round of 16.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Two things can be true: 1) Juventus delivered one of their finest performances of the season on Wednesday, and 2) there is absolutely no excuse for a club of Juve\u2019s stature to be getting knocked out by Galatasaray.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But just what exactly needs to change for the Bianconeri? Let\u2019s dive deep.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
From Gianluigi Buffon to Wojciech Szcz\u0119sny, it\u2019s clear that Juve fans have been spoiled with elite goalkeepers the last couple of decades. When Juve signed Season Michele Di Gregorio, the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Season in the 2023-24 campaign, for a fee rising to \u20ac20 million, it seemed they had found their next top shot-stopper. Juve fans were willing to look past a number of things, from his somewhat advanced age, to his development at Inter Milan\u2019s academy, to the fact that his sole top-level performances came at a provincial club like Monza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Less than two years after that signing, it\u2019s undeniable that Di Gregorio hasn\u2019t quite lived up to expectations. He has struggled to impose himself in the biggest of occasions, conceding 3-plus goals to the likes of Inter (twice) Atalanta, Galatasaray, and Borussia Dortmund this season. It\u2019s one thing to not exactly cover yourself in glory, it\u2019s another to actively undermine your team with a run of mind-boggling errors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Juve cannot afford to hold onto a goalkeeper who, at 28, fails to inspire any confidence whatsoever in his defense. Considering that Mattia Perin will either be sold or remain in a backup role, it\u2019s evident that Juventus are going to have splurge even more this summer on a goalkeeper. They could break the bank on Atalanta\u2019s Marco Carnesecchi, or opt for a younger option like Cagliari\u2019s Elia Caprile, or a more experienced goalkeeper like Tottenham Hotspur\u2019s Guglielmo Vicario.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
They cannot, under any circumstances whatsoever, continue with Di Gregorio in between the posts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Giorgio Chiellini helped Juventus establish an unprecedented dynasty thanks to his stellar defensive trio alongside Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci. Now, as Juve\u2019s Director of Football Strategy, he\u2019s tasked with righting the wrongs of the club\u2019s previous mismanagement and getting them back to the promised land. And as he looks to overhaul the squad this summer, one of the biggest areas to fix will undoubtedly be defense.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Let\u2019s face it: Despite his improvement under Luciano Spalletti, Lloyd Kelly simply isn\u2019t good enough to be a starter for Juve. Neither are Federico Gatti or Teun Koopmeiners \u2014 who has been forced to deputize at the back this season following Gleison Bremer\u2019s injury. You could argue that Bremer is the only player who belongs in the upper echelon of Serie A<\/a> defenders, and even then, it\u2019s clear that his body is starting to let him down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Juve face the prospect of having to sign not just one, but two central defenders this summer. Pierre Kalulu is probably just good enough to remain as the starter on the right side of defense, but the left back remains an incognito. Juan Cabal has not been the same since returning from injury, whilst Andrea Cambiaso, for all of his attacking verve, remains a deer in the headlights when going up against a top-class winger.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Expect some heavy changes this summer in defense.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Whilst Juve have a strong midfield core to build around in Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli and Kh\u00e9phren Thuram, it\u2019s clear that their attack still needs plenty of work. Compare their center forward options to the teams who are in the Round of 16, and it\u2019s undeniable that none of them can lay a glove to the likes of Harry Kane, Juli\u00e1n Alvarez, Hugo Ekitik\u00e9, Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 and Erling Haaland.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Neither Lo\u00efs Openda nor Jonathan David have managed to prove themselves capable of filling Du\u0161an Vlahovi\u0107\u2019s void in their inaugural season in Turin \u2014 in fact, neither of them have even proven themselves worthy of continuing another season. But unless Juve can agree a significant salary cut for Vlahovi\u0107, they shouldn\u2019t be trying to work out a contract extension with the Serbian striker either.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Juve have no other choice but to sign one top-level center forward this summer, the only question is, who? Randal Kolo Muani is reportedly the top target, with the Frenchman struggling to impress both at his parent club Paris Saint-Germain as well as his loan club Tottenham Hotspur. Having shown signs of promise during his previous loan spell in Turin, there\u2019s no reason that Juve shouldn\u2019t be trying to bring him back as long as the price is right.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Last but not least, arguably the biggest area for improvement is depth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Juve have a strong spine in Locatelli, Kalulu, McKennie, Bremer, Thuram, and Kenan Y\u0131ld\u0131z, but they need to put top-quality players around them. Whereas Gala manager Okan Buruk was able to bring on the likes of Leroy San\u00e9, Mauro Icardi and \u0130lkay G\u00fcndo\u011fan, when Spalletti turned to his bench, he found players like Edon Zhegrova, J\u00e9r\u00e9mie Boga, and Openda.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If Juve are to compete for glory across multiple fronts, they need to be able to rest and rotate their top players. And in order to do so, they need to bring in more top-quality players. But what does that look like? Does that mean signing a veteran like Bernardo Silva and forcing Francisco Concei\u00e7\u00e3o to prove himself on the bench? Does that mean pursuing more young talents and building for the future? Does it mean doing the same thing that they did in 2018 by signing the same player \u2014 Victor Osimhen \/ Cristiano Ronaldo \u2014 who knocked them out of Europe in the first place?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n