{"id":4385,"date":"2026-05-26T02:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T02:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/?p=4385"},"modified":"2026-05-26T02:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T02:32:15","slug":"juventus-2-torino-2-initial-reaction-and-random-observations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/?p=4385","title":{"rendered":"Juventus 2 – Torino 2: Initial reaction and random observations"},"content":{"rendered":"


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This is the bed that Juventus have made for themselves, and now they have to lay in it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The result is a 2026-27 season that will involve Thursday night football in the fall and into the winter, and who knows just how many roster implications that are still to come over the next couple of months.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On a night that started with a kickoff time delayed by over an hour due to fan clashes outside the stadium and then security worries inside of the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, it almost felt like a perfect encapsulation of the previous hours before that the second half of the season-ending Derby Della Mole had absolutely no stakes attached to it other than pride. With Roma and Como both winning and finishing at a time of night that things usually would for the late Sunday fixture rather than close to midnight, Juventus\u2019 Champions League hopes were officially dashed. The Opta supercomputer officially read 0.0% for Luciano Spalletti and Co., with Juventus now bound for the Europa League and a fifth-place finish.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Derby della Mole ended with a 2-2 draw thanks to Juventus throwing away a 2-0 lead after a Dusan Vlahovic brace in what could be his final game at the club. But it was the overall theme of the night \u2014 and especially the final verdict that was handed out as the Bianconeri were in the locker room at halftime \u2014 that will be the only real thing folks will be talking about in the days to come.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Juventus got plenty of help over the past six weeks to see themselves actually jump into the top four and then stay there heading into last weekend\u2019s home finale against Fiorentina. But, because they couldn\u2019t beat a Viola side that had nothing to play for other than their general hatred of Juventus and had looked like they were on the beach for weeks, they entered the final weekend of the season needing even more help than that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And even then that didn\u2019t feel possible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Not when they up 1-0 and the results might be looking somewhat favorable. Certainly not after Roma were able to hold on. And certainly not after Como put the hammer down and pulled away from now-relegated Cremonese.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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With the draw thanks to Torino\u2019s second-half comeback, Juventus finished sixth place and behind a Max Allegri-coached Milan side that completely fell apart in the final three months of the season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Not even that proved to be something that helped Juventus.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So, in the end, Juventus finished in the same place that they were when Spalletti arrived \u2014 sixth place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Finishing on 69 points isn\u2019t nice. Nowhere close to it. Making #nice jokes about it feels completely idiotic considering the complete apathy about this current roster I feel after 38 rounds of Serie A action. They got here because they couldn\u2019t beat provincial sides that had little to play for or had already been relegated. They couldn\u2019t beat Como in either matchup this season in what proved to be a vital head-to-head matchup that dropped them into the Europa League spots.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There\u2019s so many reasons why this team find themselves with a sixth-place finish. They were in sixth when Spalletti arrived, and they\u2019re sixth when this season ends. Ultimately, the problems with this squad go well beyond the coach, and who really knows just how many of those issues can actually be fixed in a summer where you know you won\u2019t have Champions League income hitting your bank accounts come the fall and winter months.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The fact is, though, this team doesn\u2019t deserve to be in the Champions League next season. What about them says \u201cYeah, they do deserve it!\u201d and that their current version puts them as one of the four best teams in Serie A? Nothing, absolutely nothing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This is the first time since the season before Antonio Conte arrived and the Scudetto streak got going that they didn\u2019t qualify for the Champions League on the field. It feels pretty appropriate that this team couldn\u2019t because, ultimately, they aren\u2019t very good \u2014 at all. They can\u2019t beat teams they should beat, they had a terrible month of February on top of the terrible start to the season under Igor Tudor, and then they completely flubbed away their chance to control their own destiny heading into Matchday 38.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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You don\u2019t deserve Champions League football with the season Juventus just had.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So it makes perfect sense that this team will be playing European fixtures on Thursdays rather than Tuesday or Wednesday next season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After all the bad things that have happened this season, in a weird kind of way it felt rater appropriate that the final 45 minutes didn\u2019t even mean anything other than playing for pride and beating your city rivals. They couldn\u2019t even do that. Instead, we saw a Torino team absolutely fired up to put one more stake through the heart of their big brother in black and white even when the dead horse had already reached its final breath.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So good riddance to the 2025-26 season, you idiotic pile of crap. I will not miss you one single bit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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