Juventus gets kicked out of the Champions League
Photo Source - AP Photo/Armando Franca)
On Wednesday night, October 25, 2022, Benfica confirmed the fate of Juventus. With a 4-3 loss, The Old Lady will not be advancing to the Champions League knockout stage for the first time since 2013/14. Juventus will either be playing in the Europa League or not in any European competition. However, this verdict is still to be determined.
The blow has sent shockwaves all throughout the soccer world. Once the crown jewel of Serie A that made two Champions League finals in three years and won nine straight Serie A titles, Juventus has fluttered out of the Champions League and currently sits at eighth in Serie A.
Fingers are being pointed everywhere in Turin. From their lackluster defense to their below-average midfield and pathetic management, their once-great manager Massimiliano Allegri looks like he’s doing everything in his power to collapse the team.
Allegri’s never-worry attitude will not cut it in Turin anymore! Change needs to happen, whether it’s a new manager, A new defender, Pogba coming back from injury, or selling the many dead-weight starters that make up the first team. Their rivals, Inter Milan and AC Milan, have been able to hold their own against teams like Barcelona, Bayern, and Chelsea. Napoli has already punched their ticket to the knockout round of the Champions League and look to win Serie A as well.
Juventus has been left in the dust as the rest of Serie A has beefed up their teams and transformed a once Juventus-dominated league into the most competitive domestic league in European competition. However, there is fault on a lot of sides with Juve, and to fix this issue is like cutting off the head of the mythological creature Hydra that Hercules fought–if you cut off its head, two more grow in place.
With Juventus this season, you remove one problem, and two more retake its place. Maybe after this exit, the fans yelling for Allergi’s sacking will finally get their wish. They can’t just stop with that, though. Things need to change with their defense and goalkeeper while also giving Dusan Vlahovic more help up front. Angel Di Maria was a good start but had been battling injury since kick-off in August. Overall, the biggest issue with this team is that most of the players are made of paper because no one can stay fit. The squad had so many injuries that Gatti was starting against Benfica.
The Juventus 2022/23 season has been nothing short of a disaster and does not seem like it will stop anytime soon. If they’re lucky, they can maybe squeak into a Europa League qualification or finish fifth in Serie A. However, every fan of the Old Lady is holding their head down in shame and smacking their foreheads with their hands as the horror show moves forward. Halloween is coming up in a couple of days but watching this team has been scary every day for the fans of the lackluster and soulless Juventus team.