Italian press gives damning Juventus verdict after 0-2 Como defeat: UCL risk
Newspapers in Italy have not looked too kindly on Juventus after their 2-0 loss at home against Como in Serie A on Saturday afternoon, which has put the Champions League race out of the Old Lady’s hands.
Juventus were beaten 2-0 by Cesc Fabregas’s side in their own back yard on Saturday afternoon, marking a troubling run of form for the Bianconeri, who have lost three games in a row in all competitions, are without a win in any of their last five and have conceded 15 goals from those last five matches.
Saturday’s loss against Como keeps Juve in fifth place in the Serie A table on 46 points from 26 matches. Roma, currently on 47 points in fourth place, will play against relegation-threatened Cremonese on Sunday afternoon and will move four points above the Bianconeri if they record a victory.
How Italian media responded to Juventus 0-2 Como
La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote on Sunday that the midweek defeats in the Champions League served as a wake-up call for Serie A leaders Inter, but sent Juventus into a stunned state.
The Pink Paper notes that it was Juventus who were the better of the two sides during last weekend’s Derby d’Italia, won 3-2 by Inter, but that it now feels like a different team altogether. It has only been eight days since the Inter derby, but La Gazzetta dello Sport suggests that it feels more like eight months.
Like most outlets in Italy, La Gazzetta dello Sport notes that qualification for next year’s Champions League is now at major risk, and that without a top four finish, Luciano Spalletti’s future in Turin will be in doubt.
Corriere dello Sport noted that this was a Juventus side lacking in identity against Como on Saturday.
Spalletti claimed after Tuesday’s 5-2 Champions League defeat against Galatasaray that the Bianconeri had taken ‘three steps backwards’, but Corriere dello Sport suggests that they have taken twice as many.
Like many outlets in Italy, Corriere dello Sport were also critical of goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio, claiming that he should have done better for Mergim Vojvoda’s goal for 1-0, despite the deflection off Fabio Miretti, and that he got away with one when Lucas Da Cunha rattled the crossbar after a horror clearance from the stopper.
Like Corriere dello Sport, Tuttosport also rated Di Gregorio at 4/10 for his performance against Como, suggesting that the ‘error’ for Vojvoda’s goal is ‘simply unacceptable for the standard of Serie A’.
The Turin-based outlet also adds that Juventus’s current form is a direct consequence of ‘three years’ of poor signings across various transfer windows. They suggest that Pierre Kalulu and Khephren Thuram are the only successful Juventus signings of the last three years.