One more Scudetto, a flood of emotions and victories, great clashes and records. Juventus Women bid farewell to 2020 as absolute protagonists on the pitch, a year in which they have been stronger than the difficulties and were able to improve day by day, match after match, training after training, with the spirit that guides the team from day one. Under the expert guidance of Coach Rita Guarino, the Bianconere were unsurpassed, in every situation, in reading the moments of the matches.
THE START OF 2020
The year began at Nereo Rocco of Trieste against Tavagnacco, with a large victory (1-5), but in the form of a comeback. It was almost as a warning of the characteristics necessary to face the subsequent challenges: quality, yes, but also hunger and desire to never give up. The first goal of the year was scored, for a change, by Cristiana Girelli and in that match Annahita Zamanian's also got on the scoresheet during her Juventus debut. Girelli also found herself on the scoresheet in the second game of the year, once again in a large stadium opened to women's football, the Castellani of Empoli. To decide the match was Valentina Cernoia's goal (2-1), who celebrated in such a manner that showed the combative side of the Juventus Women. In that liberating scream, there was the anger of those who refuse to concede defeat, of those who do not want to set limits.
THE STOP
Match after match, the Bianconere went on to win, with just one half misstep, the goalless draw at Florentia, redeemed immediately in what proved to be the last home game of the season: 5-1 at Inter, with Bonansea returning on the scoresheet at home after a long injury. The last game of the season, however, was played in Verona. Another victory and with another first: Tuija Hyyrynen's first Juventus goal. The 2019/20 season ended on 22 February 2020.
#LEAD3RS
However, what was done in the league so far was more than enough to crown the Bianconere champions of Italy. In 16 matches played, 14 wins and two draws, plus the best attack and best defence, with an important margin on the pursuers: these numbers were enough to showcase their dominance. A third title in a row was awarded to the team, who since its first steps, has only known how to win, and who has always risen the level of its performance whenever the opponents try to raise the bar.
THE RESTART
Fears, uncertainty and concern, the summer and the start of the new season, left room for hope. Getting together represented a new emotion, despite the cautions and difficulties of the period, and the return to kicking the football rekindled enthusiasm. Uncannily, the league resumed against the same opponents in which we had stopped, Verona. And it began with a 2-0 win courtesy of Cristiana Girelli and Arianna Caruso. Girelli picked up from where she left off, and the Bianconere continued with winning ways. What followed next was a last-gasp win against Empoli, a test of sheer patience before striking against San Marino, and a night that was destined to remain in history, such as the first Serie A Femminile match to take place at the at San Siro. The top-of-the-table clash against Milan was a test of pure strength, before then exercising 4-0 victories over Fiorentina and Sassuolo, which was followed by comebacks, on the road against Napoli and Florentia. The outcome: a 100% league record.
LYON
At the end of an almost perfect sporting year, came the UEFA Women's Champions League. The draw hands the Bianconere the most difficult opponent, Lyon, reigning champions of France and Europe (for five consecutive years). It is forbidden to use the word "impossible", it is forbidden to even conceive of the concept, but the mountain to climb is very high. The first match is played at the Allianz Stadium, with the most beautiful theater for a special challenge and, even if it ends in defeat, it represented one of the most special moments of 2020. Because Juventus Women managed to go toe-to-toe with their opponents: they took the lead through Lina Hurtig, who put them in constant difficulty. For 90 minutes, they narrowed a gap constructed over years and years of hard work and dedication, and they can dream. On the way back, in another great facility, the Groupama Stadium, Lyon won with merit, but the awareness acquired in the double-header represents the first value to be brought in 2021.
OVERALL
59 goals scored, 16 wins, one draw and two defeats (both in UWCL), this is the overall spoils of 2020 for Juventus Women, who end the year unbeaten in Serie A, with impressive numbers and a series of happy notes. From the goals of Cristiana Girelli, who in the final count scored more goals than games played, to the exponential growth of Arianna Caruso, simply providential in the start of the season, to new faces ready to carve out their own space, such as Lundorf and Hurtig. Then there are the awards, such as Coach Guarino's nomination for The Best FIFA Women's Coach, the inclusion of Cristiana Girelli among the best strikers for UEFA, that of Barbara Bonansea in the FIFA Women's World XI. We should really mention all the girls who are part of a team that finds in itself the incentives to always improve and who eagerly awaits 2021 in order to continue on the same path. To win again.