David Trezeguet leads Serie A in scoring with seven goals in six games. (Getty Images)
Soccer: John F. Molinaro
False dawn on the horizon for Juventus
Last Updated Friday, October 5, 2007
by John F. Molinaro
The Old Lady is singing once again, but the tune she's belting out, a pleasant melody to be sure, isn't a chart topping single.
After a year spent in Serie B purgatory, Juventus is the talk of Serie A after a dramatic 1-0 victory over city rivals Torino last weekend in what the locals call the Derby della Mole. French striker David Trezeguet was the hero for the bianconeri, scoring his league-leading seventh goal of the campaign with a spectacular volley in injury time.
The victory vaulted Juventus, famously known in Italy as La Vecchia Signora (The Old Lady), into second place in Serie A, a single point off the pace of front-runners and defending Italian league champions Inter Milan.
Juventus' climb to the top of the Serie A mountain marks an amazing turnaround for a club that only a year ago was slumming it with the likes of Rimini, Frosinone and Albinoleffe in Serie B following the calciopoli scandal.
The three major Italian sports dailies - the Gazzetta dello Sport, Corriere dello Sport and Tuttosport - were positively gushing in the aftermath of the Turin derby, turning the hype machine to full blast by proclaiming Juventus to be legitimate contenders to win the scudetto this season
"Juve are the anti-Inter," screamed a headline on the front page of Monday's edition of the Gazzetta, a not-so-subtle dig at the reigning Italian champions who, despite being in first place, are said to be a club in "crisis" following a recent 2-2 draw with lowly Livorno in Serie A and a 1-0 loss to Turkish outfit Fenerbahce in the Champions League.
To hear Italy's sports newspapers tell it, we might as just saves ourselves the trouble of playing out the rest of the season and declare Juventus champions right now.
The current Serie A standings don't lie, but they are guilty of bending the truth because Juventus doesn't look anything like a second-place team.
The bianconeri haven't exactly been playing champagne football in their Serie A return. A convincing 5-1 victory over Livorno on the opening day of the season was followed by a belaboured 3-2 road win over Cagliari, a stunning 1-0 loss at home to modest Udinese, and a fortunate 2-2 draw against Roma.
Trezeguet has supplied a steady stream of goals and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has been his usual brilliant self, but Juventus look far from the finished article in midfield and defence.
Pavel Nedved, 35, doesn't have the legs or the scoring touch around the net he once had, yet coach Claudio Ranieri insists on starting the aging Czech star, despite his best days being well behind him.
Portuguese star Tiago (who cost Juventus 13 million euros in the off-season) and Argentine Sergio Almiron (nine million euros) have failed to settle. Mauro Camoranesi usually provides the club's attack some width with his brilliant play down the wings, but the World Cup winner is currently sidelined with a thigh injury.
As for the defence, once Juventus' greatest strength, it is still trying to recover from the departures of Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram following the calciopoli verdicts.
Jorge Andrade was brought in during the summer to shore up the back line, but the Portuguese international's lack of pace has been cruelly exposed through the first month of the season. Now he's expected to miss five months after undergoing knee surgery.
As a result, the capable but disgruntled Giorgio Chiellini (prior to the campaign he caused a fuss when he said he wanted to be sold to Manchester City) has been left to lead a defensive core consisting of Frenchmen Jonathan Zebina and Jean-Alain Boumsong (both of them defensive liabilities), the unproven Cristian Molinaro and Domenico Criscito, and Czech newcomer Zdenek Grygera.
And there's more trouble brewing.
Inspirational captain Alessandro Del Piero is embroiled in a nasty negotiation with club management over a contract extension and could be on his way out at the end of this season when his current deal expires.
The idea of Del Piero, who means as much to Juventus as Steve Yzerman did to the Detroit Red Wings, playing in any other colours but black and white seems unfathomable, but the team's sporting director Alessio Secco recently admitted "there is a risk that we could lose him."
One wonders how much of a distraction the Del Piero saga will be for a short-staffed Juventus side that is trying to compete with Inter Milan, a club that has a deep reservoir of world-class players at every position.
The Old Lady may be singing now, but how long will it be before she starts crying?
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