19 March 2022
Picking yourself up after a heavy fall is no easy task but that is what Juventus are asked to do against Salernitana.
Midweek Champions League exit must be consigned to the past, the players dust themselves down and focus on the task in hand, victory in Serie A.
15 league matches unbeaten, the highest number of points accumulated in Serie A from December onwards - a run that has taken the team from chasing fourth place to now holding a seven-point advantage over nearest challengers, Lazio.
Juventus should be marching into the match against the top flight’s basement side this weekend confident of adding a fourth straight league win to the impressive unbeaten sequence. But confidence is a fragile beast, and it is that very fragility that the visitors will be looking to exploit on only their third showing in Turin against the Lady.
The most recent visit from the club from Campania was in December 1998, when a Filippo Inzaghi hat-trick gave the fans reason to cheer after a difficult period. For the visitors it was a case of a brief taste of life with Italy’s elite before slipping back into the lower echelons.
Much has changed over the period since the teams met in Turin. In fact, much has changed since the Bianconeri last faced Salernitana on the final day in November last year. The club from Salerno has undergone a fundamental makeover.
Not only has Stefano Colantuono been replaced by Turin-native Davide Nicola, the third coach to take the reins this season, but more importantly, Neapolitan businessman Danilo Iervolino has saved the club from administration.
On December 31, with time running out, Iervolino relieved ownership from the trust set up by Claudio Lotito, when the ruling was confirmed that the same person cannot possess two Serie A clubs.
The first step the new owner took was to bring in Walter Sabatini as sporting director. Sabatini put his vast experience, gained at clubs like Lazio, Roma, Palermo and most recently Bologna, to immediate use. Salernitana freshened up the squad with recognised Serie A practitioners, like Diego Perrotti, Simone Verde and Federico Fazio, and as yet unknown names on Italian shores, such as Ederson and Mikael. The two relatively untested 22-year-old Brazilians are back in contention to make an appearance at the Allianz Stadium, having shaken off recent injuries.
Although still seeking match sharpness after being regarded surplus to requirements at Roma, Fazio, meanwhile, has been given complete leadership of the defence. Vying to partner the ‘Commandante’ is Radu Dragusin, the Juventus Academy talent who also joined the Seahorses in January.
Just one defeat in six outings - the influx of players has brought an upturn in form for Salernitana. However, those five matches without loss all ended in draws, the first two of which, against Genoa and Spezia, were not enough to save Colantuono from dismissal.
Nicola’s debut in the dug-out was one to remember for the passionate support at the Arecchi stadium. A pulsating 2-2 draw with Milan sent the fans home with a sense of promise, However, the winning formula has not emerged despite the same result at the same location in the most recent fixture against Sassuolo. In between these two impressive performances, one defeat, a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Inter.
The former Torino tactician comes to Turin seeking his first win for his new club and a first ever success against Juventus in his sixth attempt in a bid to haul his side back into contention to beat the drop.
In the opposite dugout, Massimiliano Allegri expects an expert performance from his team, like that which his players produced in match day 15 in Salerno. Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata were on the scoresheet to consign the previous weekend’s loss to Altalanta to the past. Juventus have not looked back since.
The current 15-match run without loss started then, and on Sunday it must continue.
