\n<\/p>\n
So much of the 2024-25 season has been about what Juventus has been unable to do when trying to hold onto a lead. Dropped points aplenty as a result of being unable to hold said lead, and it has resulted in so many draws and a place in the standings where you even add in half of those dropped points Juve are very much in a different state compared to their current one.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, it was Juventus being the team that came back. The fashion in which they had to do so was far from perfect \u2014 if it ever is when you fall behind in the fourth minute \u2014 but flipping the script sure was a change for the better at least.<\/p>\n
Thanks a pair of goals from January arrival Randal Kolo Muani within the span of three minutes, Juventus flipped what was a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead. And what has happened so many times when Juve took a lead deep into the second half didn\u2019t repeat itself at the Allianz Stadium this time around, with a makeshift defense able to hold onto the lead and Dusan Vlahovic and Francisco Concei\u00e7\u00e3o each adding a goal in the closing minutes to wrap up a 4-1 victory over visiting Empoli. It was the start to February that was very much needed after a January in which Juventus won just one of their seven games in all competitions \u2014 yes, even if it was a lunchtime kickoff that started about as bad as you could have thought.<\/p>\n
It was certainly not always pretty \u2014 especially in the first half \u2014 but after the week that Juve just had in which it looked like they were struggling to do much right, a win and four goals against a team you struggled to score against back in September is at least somewhat of a step forward rather than another step back.<\/p>\n
Not a big one considering Empoli haven\u2019t won a game since the middle of December, but it is something \u2014 which is not always a thing we can say about this Juventus team.<\/p>\n
The biggest thing is that they had a response, with Kolo Muani \u2014 who became the first player since Carlos Tevez to score in back-to-back games after signing with Juventus \u2014 very much doing what he was brought in to do. They were very different kinds of goals \u2014 the first showing his ability to shed a defender and score from a tight angle and the second very much deflecting a long-range shot from Timothy Weah a couple of minutes later. <\/p>\n
Yet even after Juve took the lead, the same old theme of \u201cCan Juventus actually hold onto this advantage?\u201d probably came to the fore for just about everybody watching.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s only natural to think that way after Juventus have done what they have with so many points thrown away this season after leading. But not on this day, not against this Empoli side that are just a point above the relegation zone. Juve didn\u2019t add to the 17 points that they\u2019ve thrown away after being in the lead. (Add half that amount to Juve\u2019s current point total and they\u2019re in third place right behind Inter.)<\/p>\n
Thankfully on this day Juventus didn\u2019t thow a lead away.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, thankfully, thankfully.<\/p>\n
Maybe it all reverts back to what we\u2019ve seen so much of this season next weekend against Como. Or maybe it looks something like what the opening weekend of the season when the vibes were much, much higher than they currently are.<\/p>\n
At this point, it\u2019s hard to say which Juventus we\u2019ll get from half to half let alone game to game. You might get a Juve that\u2019s trailing 1-0 at the break against Empoli and probably should have been down a couple of goals. Or you could see a Juve that scores four goals in a half like they did Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
So, for now, I\u2019ll just be happy Juve actually beat a team they should and needed to beat rather than doing what they did the first time around against Empoli.<\/p>\n