Juventus: The journey to becoming Europe’s best team
Juventus are on a long-term journey to become the biggest club in European football.
Say what you want about how Juventus ended the 2019-2020 Serie A season, but the truth is that they are in the midst of an unprecedented run of success in Italian football. Despite strong challenges from Inter Milan, Lazio, and Atalanta, the Bianconeri won their ninth straight Scudetto, even though their squad needs to be rebuilt after Maurizio Sarri’s first season at the helm.
When Juve signed Cristiano Ronaldo, fresh off his third straight Champions League title, from Real Madrid for 100 million euros, they sent a clear message of intent to the rest of the world. They aren’t just content with being Italy’s powerhouse club. No, the Bianconeri want to be the biggest club in the entire world, shooting for the top spot held by Los Blancos.
It won’t be an easy road to get there. As Juve can see, winning the Champions League is incredibly difficult, and they’ve had so many close calls over the years, making finals only to lose to Lionel Messi and Barcelona and then Cristiano’s Madrid.
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Even this year, Juve find themselves behind heading into the second leg of their Round of 16 tie with Lyon. And Lyon are one of the easier clubs to face the knockout stages of the Champions League. But as Lyon recently showed PSG, they are actually no easy team – just relative to powerhouses like Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich.
Juventus have the cornerstones. Wojciech Szczesny is probably the best goalkeeper in his league. Matthijs de Ligt is the world’s best young center back. Quietly, Merih Demiral isn’t far behind him.
Paulo Dybala and Cristiano Ronaldo are an envious duo. Arthur Melo and Rodrigo Bentancur should form a great young midfield duo in 2020-2021 after Arthur’s arrival from La Blaugrana.
But the journey to becoming the best club is truly far from completion. Dybala and Ronaldo have essentially no help up top. Federico Bernardeschi and Gonzalo Higuain are simply not good enough for a club with these ambitions.
The depth at center back needs work. The depth in midfield is just as precarious. And the fullbacks, aside from Juan Cuadrado, simply don’t offer enough in the attack to fit the modern game.
Even in the tough transfer market due to COVID-19, Juventus will have a chance to make the upgrades they need, creatively using swap deals like the one that brought in Arthur from Barcelona.
Juventus must focus on Lyon. dark. Next
It’s a journey of miles, but each step is taking Juve closer to their ambitious goal. There have been setbacks along the way, but the Juventini know that they can trust in the club’s leadership to make the right decisions. The de Ligt, Demiral, and Arthur signings, for example, show a clear path of progression to future greatness in Europe.