I think it’s quite obvious what the word of the month for November was: injuries. Juventus has limped through November with essentially the bare minimum number of players required.
You might feel encouraged by the fact that the team is unbeaten in the league and only lost once in the Champions League, but don’t be fooled by these data: across all competitions, the team has more draws than wins this season, which means that we’ve dropped an awful lot of points overall.
So while things don’t look terrible on paper and I understand that we’ve suffered from a devastating number of injuries this season, the cracks are starting to show in Thiago Motta’s Juventus team as we approach the midway point of the season.
No center forwards, no party
Juve started the month with a solid 2-0 victory against Udinese. Khéphren Thuram had one of the best games of his young Juventus career as he bossed the midfield and created the first goal. He bamboozled an Udinese defender and unleashed a fantastic shot that came off the inside of the far post, hit the back of Nigerian goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, and went into goal. Despite Thuram’s fantastic work, it was officially registered as an own goal.
The Bianconeri got their second goal shortly before halftime thanks to Nicolo Savona. When Kenan Yildiz fired a shot off the post, Savona reacted first to the loose ball and calmly passed the ball into the far corner. Juventus easily defended their lead in the second half and secured a comfortable 2-0 victory.
We then traveled to France to play Lille in Matchday 4 of the Champions League. Despite playing well in the first half and having multiple goals ruled out for offside, Motta’s side went into the break a goal down. Edon Zhegrova — who had a marvelous performance — played a perfect through ball to Canadian striker Jonathan David, who took a few touches before finishing past Juve keeper Michele Di Gregorio.
But Juventus stuck to the game plan and it paid off in the 60th minute. Lille midfielder Benjamin Andre fouled the red-hot Francisco Conceição in the box and Dusan Vlahovic coolly converted the penalty. While Lille did have a big chance late in the game, it wasn’t enough to beat Di Gregorio. The score remained at 1-1 at the final whistle and Juventus secured ... yet another draw!
From one tough game to the next: the Derby Della Mole against Torino. But just as has happened in almost every game against Torino in recent history, the Bianconeri emerged as the winners. Andrea Cambiaso made a remarkable solo run all the way from his own half and fired a stinging shot that goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic saved, but the rebound fell to Timothy Weah, who had the easiest finish ever in front of an open goal.
Torino, who had cooled off following a strong start to the season, barely threatened all game. The Bianconeri sealed the victory late in the game when assist-machine Conceição picked out Yildiz with a fantastic cross to the back post and the Turkish youngster scored with a fantastic diving header. With that goal, he became the third youngest goalscorer in Juventus history in a Derby Della Mole. Final score: 2-0.
Juventus v Torino - Serie A Photo by Daniele Badolato - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images
Motta’s team ended the month with two consecutive 0-0 draws away from home. The first one was against AC Milan, a team that has been more inconsistent than Juventus this season. It was a forgettable match characterized by many turnovers and mistakes from both sides and little attacking creativity (which was no surprise for Juventus given that they played without a striker).
The second scoreless draw came in a more eventful match in the Champions League against high-flying debutants Aston Villa. The English side had a few decent chances throughout the game, especially one from Ollie Watkins late in the first half that Di Gregorio got a strong hand on to save it. Lucas Digne tried to replicate his free kick magic from the international break, but thankfully his free kick late in the first half hit the top of the crossbar and went out.
The biggest chance in the second half came when Teun Koopmeiners’ corner went all the far to the far post and Conceição, the shortest player on the pitched, headed towards goal. The ball was 0.00000001 millimeters away from crossing the line when Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez performed a stunning save to stop the ball from crossing the line. It’s no wonder that he recently was recently named the world’s best goalkeeper when he won the Yashin Trophy for the second time. He is the only goalkeeper to ever win the trophy more than once.
Juventus Women
November was a busy one for Juventus Women as the team played seven games in the span of three weeks. The first game was a comfortable 3-0 away victory against Napoli in the Serie A. Cristiana Girelli scored a penalty early in the game after a handball in the box. Paulina Krumbiegel doubled the team’s lead shortly before half time to give Juventus a comfortable lead before half time. Arianna Caruso then won and scored a penalty in the 70th minute to seal a solid victory for her team.
The Bianconere were clearly in a hurry to get the next game over with because they scored all their goals in the first 20 minutes of the game. Sofia Cantore, Chiara Beccari, Lisa Boattin, and Amalie Vangsgaard were the goalscorers in this Coppa Italia fixture against Hellas Verona. An easy 4-0 victory that allowed Juventus to progress to the quarter final of the competition.
Como v Juventus - Women Serie A Photo by Image Photo Agency/Getty Images
The winning streak continued as the Bianconere beat Milan 3-0 in the next game. It was another match decided by early goals, this time two in the first ten minutes by Girelli and Caruso respectively. Cantore, who recently saw her shirt inducted into the Juventus Museum, curled a lovely shot into the corner in the 53rd minute to score her team’s third and final goal of the game.
Unfortunately, the positive run of results came to an end with a thumping 4-0 loss in the Champions League to European heavyweights Arsenal. Frida Maanum scored the first goal late in the first half and while Juventus fought hard to equalize, the team fell apart late in the game. Stina Blackstenius, Mariona Caldentey, and Caitlin Foord scored in the last 15 minutes to turn a seemingly respectable performance into a heavy defeat.
Things weren’t much better a few days later against Sassuolo in the league. Girelli scored a goal in the opening five minutes for the third consecutive league game, but unlike other teams, Sassuolo didn’t give up after conceding early. Gina Maria Chmielinski equalized in the 20th minute with a precise shot and her team looked to press forward to score another. New signing Alisha Lehmann put Juventus back in front with a great right-footed shot from the edge of the box, but Chmielinski hit back again with her second goal of the match in the 80th minute. A disappointing 2-2 draw to end a tough week for the team.
The Bianconere then made it three consecutive matches in all competitions without victory when it fell to a 1-0 loss away at Arsenal in the Champions League. Ex-Juventina Lina Hurtig (who else?) scored in the 89th minute to win the game for her new team. This result means that Juventus drop out of the competition at the group phase.
Thankfully, Juventus ended the month with a convincing 4-1 victory over Como in the league. It looked like it was going to be a shock result when Alex Kerr scored for Como in the seventh minute, but goals from Bonansea, Girelli, Caruso, and Schatzer eased everyone’s nerves and gave the team a comfortable victory in the end.
A New (?) Home
Many Juventus fans will remember the heated debates in the past about Manuel Locatelli’s best position on the pitch. Back when he and Jorginho played more consistently for Italy, there were times that he played (quite well) in a more advanced position in right-central midfield. Of course, when he played for Sassuolo he also occasionally played in that slightly advanced, right-central midfield position. As a result, many people believed/remembered that that was his best (and only?) position and that Allegri’s efforts to force him into the regista position was foolish.
However, this story is a good example of how memory can play tricks on you. When you look at the history of Locatelli’s performances all the way back to his Sassuolo days, courtesy of Transfermarkt, there are actually quite a few instances in which he played in different positions across the midfield.
For example, in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, Transfermarkt dat says that Locatelli played 34 times in the central defensive midfield (CDM) position, once in attacking midfield, and 25 times in the central midfield position (note: this includes times when he played centrally in a 2-man midfield and in the right-central midfield position in a three-man midfield).
In other words, he split his time almost evenly between central midfield and defensive midfield.
Lecce v Juventus - Serie A Locatelli wants YOU to know what his best position is.
Photo by Gabriele Maricchiolo/NurPhoto via Getty Images
I bring this up because, as I mentioned in a few recent podcast episodes, Locatelli has been absolutely excellent this season in the CDM position. He has been defensively outstanding for Juventus — 2.3 tackles and 0.5 interceptions per game — and has continually improved his passing ability (92% pass accuracy and 0.8 key passes per game), especially his impressive long-range passes (more than 5 accurate long balls per game).
Given that all of his performances this season except for three — against France in the Nations League for Italy and against Stuttgart and Como for Juventus — were in the CDM position, it’s clear to me that this is absolutely Locatelli’s best position. Let’s hope he continues to thrive in this position as he becomes a true leader for this Juventus team.