When will the Juventus of old return?

Juventus used to strike fear and terror into many opponents in the 90’s up until 2006. Their dominance in Italian football was clear, 7 league titles, 1 champions league trophy, 3 time champions league runners up, and 1 Coppa Italia. In the late 90’s Juventus were considered one of the most consistent teams in Europe, since 1995 they reached the final three years in a row. They reached the semi finals the following year however they were knocked out by the treble searching Manchester United. They boasted stars in every position from the reliable Peruzzi to the strike partnership of Vialli and the ‘Silver Fox’ Ravanelli. After all who could forget the magic of Del Piero, who played a vital role in Juventus’ success.

Winning back-to-back league titles in 2005 and 2006, the Italian national team boasted several key Juventus players went on to win the World Cup. While the Italian national team was getting past their opponents, the courts were running the Calciopoli scandal. After the Italians won the World Cup, several clubs were found guilty. Juventus were found guilty of match fixing and were stripped off 2 league titles and were relegated to Serie B. It took them a year to bounce back into the Serie A, and they were heading in the right direction finishing in the top three for two seasons. However last season they finished at a dismal seventh barely qualifying to the Europa League. Questions will be asked however regarding Juventus transfer dealings. Signing several players that are average team players with the exception of Diego who couldn’t flourish in Italian football. Having spent on players such as Tiago, Almiron, Amauri and many more who couldn’t achieve what was expected of them. Juventus were second when they sacked Claudio Ranieri, who did a great job in reviving the Old Lady. Two main reasons behind Juventus’ downfall are the lack of key signings, and the instability caused by the boardroom in sacking managers. Juventus have signed several players, with the exception of Krasic, Quagliarella and Aquillani, that have failed to perform. However they were still knocked out of the Europa league group stages by achieving six draws, which is considered to be a disappointing with the money that was spent they should have been in the semi-finals of this tournament at the very least. With Italy losing a place to Germany in the 2012/2013 Champions league restricting the Italians to 3 Champions league spots, Juventus have a lot of work to do to regain their status in European football. With the likes of AC Milan, Inter and Napoli dominating Italian football, it’s a challenge for Juventus to fight their way back into the Champions league and then of course domestic glory.

Jassim KK Al-Thani

(Guest Writer)