{"id":4244,"date":"2026-05-06T01:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T01:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/?p=4244"},"modified":"2026-05-06T01:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T01:29:10","slug":"juventus-1-hellas-verona-1-initial-reaction-and-random-observations-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/?p=4244","title":{"rendered":"Juventus 1 – Hellas Verona 1: Initial reaction and random observations"},"content":{"rendered":"


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So much of Juventus\u2019 first four games out the March international break was about them taking advantage of the opportunity right in front of them. They got the help from other teams who were playing their direct rivals for fourth place, and <\/em>they got the result to take care of their own business as they quickly flipped the entire situation in their favor after things looked so bleak heading into the break.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The last two games, though?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Not as great \u2014 and especially this time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Juventus lined up against a Hellas Verona team on Sunday that had known for the past 48 hours that it was officially relegated to Serie B. But when it comes to that, you wouldn\u2019t have known. Not because Hellas Verona were all that great during their last trip to Turin for at least one season. Instead, it was because Juventus, a team that got more help from Napoli the day before in their scoreless draw against Como, looked about as ineffective in front of goal as we\u2019ve seen in a good amount of time. It didn\u2019t matter how many shots they actually had \u2014 oh, and they had plenty of chances! \u2014 it was because outside of Dusan Vlahovic\u2019s free kick in the 62nd minute, Juventus were either frustrated by their own actions or what Lorenzo Montip\u00f2 was doing in goal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The end result was a maddening 1-1 draw with the 19th-place team in Serie A, a club that has barely won since Christmas and have looked virtually inept in attack over the past couple of months.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But leave it to Juventus, in a game that had virtually everybody thinking three points were the only thing that could come out of it, to both let the first-shot-on-goal curse strike again and fail to score much at all against a team that has been relegated and is one of the worst defenses in the league.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s the kind of performance that has you seriously questioning whether they can finish in the top four even though they will still be in fourth place even if Roma beat Fiorentina on Monday night. But when they had the chance to pull even with Max Allegri\u2019s AC Milan on points and go into third on goal differential, Juventus went out and did whatever the hell you want to call their showing against Hellas Verona.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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(That\u2019s also the second draw against Verona this season. Considering how bard they are, that\u2019s not exactly something Juventus should be happy about both now and when the season is officially over.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Juventus finished with 29 shots against Hellas Verona. For much of the game, only a slim number of those were on frame, giving Montip\u00f2 a relative reprieve despite all of the pressure directly in front of him. Outside of the Vlahovic free kick that tied the game and maybe gave us a momentary glimmer of hope for a win, Montip\u00f2 looked awfully close to going fully Sorrento and keeping just about everything he had to save out of the goal. He got some pretty good defending in front of him, of course, but it also helped that Juventus were up to their usual (bad) tricks when it comes to try to break down an extremely low block and finishing like they were back in their first full day of training after a couple of weeks completely away from kicking a ball.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It was the kind of performance you might excuse in the very early parts of the season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But when you\u2019ve got the door open to move into third place and<\/em> greatly improve your chances of qualifying for the Champions League in the final month of the season? Yeah, not so much.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And to do all of this in front of your home fans, too? In the penultimate home fixture of the season? Not good.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This is 100% a draw that feels like a loss. Juventus had room for error when it comes to their standing in fourth place, but you sure would have liked to see that still in play come the final couple weekends of the season when you\u2019ve got Fiorentina and Torino on the schedule. Instead, that room for error is now basically gone and the final three games of the season now swing back to all being must-win so that Roma or Como don\u2019t pip you right before the finish line arrives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This wasn\u2019t Hellas Verona playing that much out of their mind that they snaked a point off Juventus. This was the same old song and dance we\u2019ve seen from this club over the last few years \u2014 they just sometimes can\u2019t help but be their own worst enemy at extremely important times. They dug their own hole against Hellas Verona on Sunday and they couldn\u2019t figure a way fully out of it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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You just can\u2019t help but think of the alternative to what actually played out. Juventus could have been in third place with a win. Instead, they\u2019re now going to be barely hanging on to fourth place if Roma beat Fiorentina. That is quite a swing for a team that just seemed to be doing so much right only a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The more things change \u2026 or something like that. I don\u2019t know at this point. It\u2019s hard to figure it all out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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