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Juventus- A season review
EFL 1-
With another FFO season in the books, today we take a deep dive into the season that Italian team Juventus have had. Many have them down as the best team in EFL 1 outside of the top 3 of Real Madrid, Roma and PSG but football doesn't always work that way.
Juventus would start the season with back to back defeats against AC Milan & Sporting Libson but after this they seemed to get their season back on track with wins against Lazio & Borussia Dortmund but the theme of Juventus' season would be inconsistency alongside poor performances and results against teams in the lower reaches of the league.
Impressive wins against FC Barcelona both home and away, a 3-0 demolition of reigning Champions PSG but then on the flip side they dropped points against Marseille, Celtic, Rangers and were beaten home and away by Bayer Leverkusen...wins that kept the German team in the league.
In the end, after 38 games Juventus finished in 5th place after failing to catch AC Milan who finished 4th, a huge 8 points ahead of Juventus whose form fell off a cliff in the last month of the season.
Juventus won 18 of their 38 games and drew only 6 but with 14 defeats that will surely be an area of focus moving into the next season.
The old lady would score 75 goals in the season, with 56 being scored against them with games towards the end of the season costing the club a lot of goals.
Ultimately, Juventus' place in next seasons' Champions League was never in doubt however it was only a matter of 3 points between themselves and 9th placed Sporting Lisbon.
Banks on the Juventus league performance:
"We've simply not been good enough. We've been for too inconsistent and it's shown on the league table. We have the quality in our ranks to be in 4th position and we were challenging for that spot for a long time but it seemed like every time we got close, we made mistakes and has further set backs.
We feel like considering the poor season Roma had, we should have been finishing above them again but we are where we are for a reason. We have not been good enough and a lot of those poor results have come at the hands of teams who have struggled in the league this season. We have to do better next time out or we'll have another poor season. Had a few games gone against us, we could have missed out on Champions League football next season and that would have been a disaster."
EFL CUP-
In round 1, Juventus would travel to third team Turkish opposition in the form of Galatasaray.
The top team club would make changes from their previous league game but would come out comfortable 3-0 winners with goals from S_Gimenez x2 and defender T_Nianzou.
Onto round 2 and Juventus were again on the road as they visited EFL 1 strugglers Marseille.
The result was never in doubt as Juventus romped to a 4-0 win with the goals coming from J_Gvardiol, Joao_Felix and another brace from S_Gimenez who was starting to get a reputation for scoring in cup games.
Round 3 would see a first home game of the competition and Juventus’ worst performance to date.
Two late goals from E_Camavinga & Joao_Felix sealed a come from behind victory but given the poor performance, their Quarter final opponents Inter Milan must have been licking their lips at the thought of facing them.
The Quarter final would see Juventus travel once again, this time against their strongest opponents to date but two quick goals in the 3rd & 13th minutes from Joao_Felix sunk Inter Milan and booked Juventus into the semi final alongside AS Monaco, PSG & Borussia Dortmund.
The semi final draw was made and Juventus were drawn against AS Monaco and would face them at a neutral venue.
The game was hard to predict pre game as AS Monaco were under new management as James Bucknall, formerly of Huddersfield Town, had only recently taken over the French club.
Goals from new signing E_Smith_Rowe & club captain S_Gimenez sealed the win and booked Juventus’ place in the final of the EFL Cup to face PSG who booked their place after a 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the other semi final.
With the league season over, the attention turned to the EFL Cup final.
Juventus vs PSG would prove to be a classic with the overwhelming favourites PSG facing the underdog Juventus team and the Italian based club would go toe to toe with the big & bad French club and on the day they matched them but the games' only goal would come on the verge of half time from PSG's E_Haaland as he put his team ahead heading into the break.
As much as Juventus pushed in the second half, they couldn't break down the PSG defence and the French team ran out 1 goal winners.
Banks on the Juventus EFL Cup journey:
"We've come a long way in this competition this season but ultimately we've not come away with anything but the lads can be proud of the way they made it to the final and the performance they put in against PSG in the final. We could have won the game as it was an extremely even game but when you're up against a team this god you need to take your chances and get some luck along the way and we didn't get either. We'll look to replicate this run moving forwards as it gives the lads a lot of game time and development along with extra funds for the club."
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE-
Juventus were drawn into Group B alongside Bayern Munich, Burnley & Leeds United.
A tough group to get out of, comprising of 2 of the 3 teams that Juventus faced when they were last in the competition two seasons ago so they knew they had to compete harder this time as the last time it was a campaign to forget for sure.
Game 1 would see Juventus travel to Premier League team Burnley and after a 5-1 demolition, Juventus looked like the team to fear in this group.
Goals from Nuno_Mendes x2, Joao_Felix & S_Gimenez x2 sealed an impressive victory to start the campaign.
If game 1 got the Juventus fans excited, game 2 did the exact opposite as the Italian giants slumped to a 3-1 defeat to ‘rebuilding’ Bayern Munich away from home.
Juventus had started strongly but fell behind early on only for Joao_Felix to equalise but Bayern went on to win the game 3-1.
Games 3 & 4 would see Juventus face Leeds United both home and away.
First up in game 3 Juventus welcomed Premier League Champions Leeds United in a heated game where both managers were in the limelight as their mutual dislike for one another was a talking point both before and after the game.
Goals from defender M_Simakan & captain S_Gimenez earned Juventus a valuable victory and 3 points to give them 6 points out of 9 at the half way stage.
Game 4 would see Juventus travel to Leeds knowing a victory could see them all but seal their place in the final 8 and that’s exactly what happened.
A 95th minute winner from Joao_ Felix after an opener from S_Gimenez sent Juventus top of the group and the travelling fans home extremely happy as with 2 games remaining, Juventus were in a position where all they had to do was avoid losing their final 2 home games and they’d qualify for the knock out stage.
Game 5 would see them face Bayern Munich and after a S_Gimenez brace that had Bayern chasing the game, nothing could get Bayern back on level terms even after they halved the deficit just seconds after Juventus goalkeeper M_Carnesecchi was taken off injured with 11 minutes to play.
Juventus held on for a 2-1 victory which saw them win group B with a game to spare.
Game 6 was a free hit for Juventus, with their fate already decided as group winners they had nothing to lose and they quite possibly played out the game of the season with Burnley who knew they had to win to stand any chance of qualifying for the final 8.
The game went back and forth in a 5-5 thriller with goals from M_Simakan, a hat trick from S_Gimenez & a late goal to break Burnley hearts from F_Wirtz.
Before that goal, Burnley were 2nd and going through but the young German’s strike sent Leeds United through instead.
Juventus finished 1st with 13 points from 18 available and went into the draw for the quarter final where they’d face one of three teams who had finished 2nd in their groups;
Manchester United, PSG or Inter Milan.
It was the runners up of group D, Inter Milan.
The first leg would see Juventus be away from home as they travelled to Milan looking to take a lead back to Turin for the second leg and that’s just what they did after a 2-0 victory with goals from F_Wirtz & J_Gvardiol.
A change of management in Milan between the two legs as manager Garysean Wilson resigned from his position at the club stating that he’d lost the dressing room and could no longer make effective changes during games.
In came AS Monaco manager John Read and in his first game in charge of the club, a few hours after his appointment, Read sent out his team to face Juventus in a must win game.
Juventus played a cautious game and Inter Milan never really looked like they would threaten the Juventus lead and in the end a late S_Gimenez goal sealed a 3-0 win on aggregate to book a place in the final 4 alongside Real Madrid, PSG & Manchester United where they’d eventually be drawn against PSG.
A huge task was ahead for Juventus as they faced the best club left in the game and once again Juventus went toe to toe with the best of the best and got off to a dream start as top scorer S_Gimenez put his team ahead just 4 minutes into the game in Paris.
This lead wouldn't last long as the hosts were level within 5 minutes through Vitinha.
PSG were ahead 15 minutes through E_Haaland and in the second half, PSG doubled their advantage with a 54th minute goal from G_Ramos.
Juventus couldn't close the gap on PSG in the remainder of the half and would need to head into the second leg chasing the game, needing 2 goals.
Onto the second leg and it was a story of just before and just after half time. PSG had kept Juventus at bay and their lead looked comfortable but during first half stoppage time, the mountain was made even bigger Juventus' star striker Joao_Felix was shown a red card and then 3 minutes after the restart the tie was put to bed as E_Haaland made it 4-1 on aggregate on 48 minutes.
Banks on the Champions League journey:
"Much like our EFL Cup journey, we're extremely proud of the lads and what they've achieved in this season in the Champions League. Before this season we were seen as a club who would be group stage cannon fodder but after topping our group and putting Inter Milan out we've come up against the juggernaut in PSG and we just didn't do enough to challenge them.
To go out to the eventual champions isn't anything to be ashamed of.
We have to learn from this and turn ourselves from outsiders and underdogs to regularly being in these positions and this season is the foundations of that."
With the season being over, now is the time for clubs to make any changes to their club facilities with the main one being work on their stadium. Juventus currently have a capacity of 55,000 but the club have released a statement in recent weeks that plans to increase this figure to 65,000 over the off season are slid and will go ahead. The price for this increase is said to be over £20,000,000 but the club have insisted that the increase is vital and they will continue to sink money into this kind of improvement of the club overall.
"We're always looking for ways to generate revenue for the club and with this one, we have to spend money to make money long term and in time it'll be proven to be the right decision as we'll be able to welcome more and more fans into the stadium."
Another aspect of a clubs' facilities is their youth academy. This being the first season of this aspect, many still need time to get their head around the parameters but it seems like Juventus have once again made an early decision when it comes to the future of their team as they've made a second statement revealing that they'll look to sign 1-2 new players into their academy costing £12,000,000 per player.
"We always look to the future and how we can bring the next generation of players into the fold and despite our academy not yielding the players we originally wanted, we have to invest into the set up in order to improve. It could be 1 player that we purchase, it could be 2. We will make that decision when our club funds are finalised."
EFL 1-
With another FFO season in the books, today we take a deep dive into the season that Italian team Juventus have had. Many have them down as the best team in EFL 1 outside of the top 3 of Real Madrid, Roma and PSG but football doesn't always work that way.
Juventus would start the season with back to back defeats against AC Milan & Sporting Libson but after this they seemed to get their season back on track with wins against Lazio & Borussia Dortmund but the theme of Juventus' season would be inconsistency alongside poor performances and results against teams in the lower reaches of the league.
Impressive wins against FC Barcelona both home and away, a 3-0 demolition of reigning Champions PSG but then on the flip side they dropped points against Marseille, Celtic, Rangers and were beaten home and away by Bayer Leverkusen...wins that kept the German team in the league.
In the end, after 38 games Juventus finished in 5th place after failing to catch AC Milan who finished 4th, a huge 8 points ahead of Juventus whose form fell off a cliff in the last month of the season.
Juventus won 18 of their 38 games and drew only 6 but with 14 defeats that will surely be an area of focus moving into the next season.
The old lady would score 75 goals in the season, with 56 being scored against them with games towards the end of the season costing the club a lot of goals.
Ultimately, Juventus' place in next seasons' Champions League was never in doubt however it was only a matter of 3 points between themselves and 9th placed Sporting Lisbon.
Banks on the Juventus league performance:
"We've simply not been good enough. We've been for too inconsistent and it's shown on the league table. We have the quality in our ranks to be in 4th position and we were challenging for that spot for a long time but it seemed like every time we got close, we made mistakes and has further set backs.
We feel like considering the poor season Roma had, we should have been finishing above them again but we are where we are for a reason. We have not been good enough and a lot of those poor results have come at the hands of teams who have struggled in the league this season. We have to do better next time out or we'll have another poor season. Had a few games gone against us, we could have missed out on Champions League football next season and that would have been a disaster."
EFL CUP-
In round 1, Juventus would travel to third team Turkish opposition in the form of Galatasaray.
The top team club would make changes from their previous league game but would come out comfortable 3-0 winners with goals from S_Gimenez x2 and defender T_Nianzou.
Onto round 2 and Juventus were again on the road as they visited EFL 1 strugglers Marseille.
The result was never in doubt as Juventus romped to a 4-0 win with the goals coming from J_Gvardiol, Joao_Felix and another brace from S_Gimenez who was starting to get a reputation for scoring in cup games.
Round 3 would see a first home game of the competition and Juventus’ worst performance to date.
Two late goals from E_Camavinga & Joao_Felix sealed a come from behind victory but given the poor performance, their Quarter final opponents Inter Milan must have been licking their lips at the thought of facing them.
The Quarter final would see Juventus travel once again, this time against their strongest opponents to date but two quick goals in the 3rd & 13th minutes from Joao_Felix sunk Inter Milan and booked Juventus into the semi final alongside AS Monaco, PSG & Borussia Dortmund.
The semi final draw was made and Juventus were drawn against AS Monaco and would face them at a neutral venue.
The game was hard to predict pre game as AS Monaco were under new management as James Bucknall, formerly of Huddersfield Town, had only recently taken over the French club.
Goals from new signing E_Smith_Rowe & club captain S_Gimenez sealed the win and booked Juventus’ place in the final of the EFL Cup to face PSG who booked their place after a 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the other semi final.
With the league season over, the attention turned to the EFL Cup final.
Juventus vs PSG would prove to be a classic with the overwhelming favourites PSG facing the underdog Juventus team and the Italian based club would go toe to toe with the big & bad French club and on the day they matched them but the games' only goal would come on the verge of half time from PSG's E_Haaland as he put his team ahead heading into the break.
As much as Juventus pushed in the second half, they couldn't break down the PSG defence and the French team ran out 1 goal winners.
Banks on the Juventus EFL Cup journey:
"We've come a long way in this competition this season but ultimately we've not come away with anything but the lads can be proud of the way they made it to the final and the performance they put in against PSG in the final. We could have won the game as it was an extremely even game but when you're up against a team this god you need to take your chances and get some luck along the way and we didn't get either. We'll look to replicate this run moving forwards as it gives the lads a lot of game time and development along with extra funds for the club."
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE-
Juventus were drawn into Group B alongside Bayern Munich, Burnley & Leeds United.
A tough group to get out of, comprising of 2 of the 3 teams that Juventus faced when they were last in the competition two seasons ago so they knew they had to compete harder this time as the last time it was a campaign to forget for sure.
Game 1 would see Juventus travel to Premier League team Burnley and after a 5-1 demolition, Juventus looked like the team to fear in this group.
Goals from Nuno_Mendes x2, Joao_Felix & S_Gimenez x2 sealed an impressive victory to start the campaign.
If game 1 got the Juventus fans excited, game 2 did the exact opposite as the Italian giants slumped to a 3-1 defeat to ‘rebuilding’ Bayern Munich away from home.
Juventus had started strongly but fell behind early on only for Joao_Felix to equalise but Bayern went on to win the game 3-1.
Games 3 & 4 would see Juventus face Leeds United both home and away.
First up in game 3 Juventus welcomed Premier League Champions Leeds United in a heated game where both managers were in the limelight as their mutual dislike for one another was a talking point both before and after the game.
Goals from defender M_Simakan & captain S_Gimenez earned Juventus a valuable victory and 3 points to give them 6 points out of 9 at the half way stage.
Game 4 would see Juventus travel to Leeds knowing a victory could see them all but seal their place in the final 8 and that’s exactly what happened.
A 95th minute winner from Joao_ Felix after an opener from S_Gimenez sent Juventus top of the group and the travelling fans home extremely happy as with 2 games remaining, Juventus were in a position where all they had to do was avoid losing their final 2 home games and they’d qualify for the knock out stage.
Game 5 would see them face Bayern Munich and after a S_Gimenez brace that had Bayern chasing the game, nothing could get Bayern back on level terms even after they halved the deficit just seconds after Juventus goalkeeper M_Carnesecchi was taken off injured with 11 minutes to play.
Juventus held on for a 2-1 victory which saw them win group B with a game to spare.
Game 6 was a free hit for Juventus, with their fate already decided as group winners they had nothing to lose and they quite possibly played out the game of the season with Burnley who knew they had to win to stand any chance of qualifying for the final 8.
The game went back and forth in a 5-5 thriller with goals from M_Simakan, a hat trick from S_Gimenez & a late goal to break Burnley hearts from F_Wirtz.
Before that goal, Burnley were 2nd and going through but the young German’s strike sent Leeds United through instead.
Juventus finished 1st with 13 points from 18 available and went into the draw for the quarter final where they’d face one of three teams who had finished 2nd in their groups;
Manchester United, PSG or Inter Milan.
It was the runners up of group D, Inter Milan.
The first leg would see Juventus be away from home as they travelled to Milan looking to take a lead back to Turin for the second leg and that’s just what they did after a 2-0 victory with goals from F_Wirtz & J_Gvardiol.
A change of management in Milan between the two legs as manager Garysean Wilson resigned from his position at the club stating that he’d lost the dressing room and could no longer make effective changes during games.
In came AS Monaco manager John Read and in his first game in charge of the club, a few hours after his appointment, Read sent out his team to face Juventus in a must win game.
Juventus played a cautious game and Inter Milan never really looked like they would threaten the Juventus lead and in the end a late S_Gimenez goal sealed a 3-0 win on aggregate to book a place in the final 4 alongside Real Madrid, PSG & Manchester United where they’d eventually be drawn against PSG.
A huge task was ahead for Juventus as they faced the best club left in the game and once again Juventus went toe to toe with the best of the best and got off to a dream start as top scorer S_Gimenez put his team ahead just 4 minutes into the game in Paris.
This lead wouldn't last long as the hosts were level within 5 minutes through Vitinha.
PSG were ahead 15 minutes through E_Haaland and in the second half, PSG doubled their advantage with a 54th minute goal from G_Ramos.
Juventus couldn't close the gap on PSG in the remainder of the half and would need to head into the second leg chasing the game, needing 2 goals.
Onto the second leg and it was a story of just before and just after half time. PSG had kept Juventus at bay and their lead looked comfortable but during first half stoppage time, the mountain was made even bigger Juventus' star striker Joao_Felix was shown a red card and then 3 minutes after the restart the tie was put to bed as E_Haaland made it 4-1 on aggregate on 48 minutes.
Banks on the Champions League journey:
"Much like our EFL Cup journey, we're extremely proud of the lads and what they've achieved in this season in the Champions League. Before this season we were seen as a club who would be group stage cannon fodder but after topping our group and putting Inter Milan out we've come up against the juggernaut in PSG and we just didn't do enough to challenge them.
To go out to the eventual champions isn't anything to be ashamed of.
We have to learn from this and turn ourselves from outsiders and underdogs to regularly being in these positions and this season is the foundations of that."
With the season being over, now is the time for clubs to make any changes to their club facilities with the main one being work on their stadium. Juventus currently have a capacity of 55,000 but the club have released a statement in recent weeks that plans to increase this figure to 65,000 over the off season are slid and will go ahead. The price for this increase is said to be over £20,000,000 but the club have insisted that the increase is vital and they will continue to sink money into this kind of improvement of the club overall.
"We're always looking for ways to generate revenue for the club and with this one, we have to spend money to make money long term and in time it'll be proven to be the right decision as we'll be able to welcome more and more fans into the stadium."
Another aspect of a clubs' facilities is their youth academy. This being the first season of this aspect, many still need time to get their head around the parameters but it seems like Juventus have once again made an early decision when it comes to the future of their team as they've made a second statement revealing that they'll look to sign 1-2 new players into their academy costing £12,000,000 per player.
"We always look to the future and how we can bring the next generation of players into the fold and despite our academy not yielding the players we originally wanted, we have to invest into the set up in order to improve. It could be 1 player that we purchase, it could be 2. We will make that decision when our club funds are finalised."