Juventus’ season began with much promise as summer signing Diego excited fans with creativity not seen since Zidane patrolled the midfield at the Stadio Delle Alpi. So far this season the Turin giants’ performances have been, for the most part, underwhelming, both in Europe and in serie A. Sampdoria on the other hand has captured Italian imaginations with attacking flair led by bad boy Antonio Cassano. Cassano and fellow Blucerchiati Giampaolo Pazzini and Daniele Mannini have not only made Samp early season challengers but they have also encouraged campaigns for inclusion on the Azzurri World Cup 2010 entry.
Juventus went into Wednesday’s home match with Samp, trailing their opponents near the top end of the table, unleashing a balanced attack and stifling Sampdoria’s prolific offense. Sampdoria was trounced, as Amauri led Juve scoring with two goals, despite numerous significant injuries to the Turin club. Juventus’ attacking players, including Sebastian Giovinco, Mauro Camorenesi and Diego, proved to be in very strong form with impressive offensive contributions also coming from defenders Chiellini and Grosso. The Old Lady’s convincing 5-1 victory vaulted them into second place ahead of Samp and one point behind Inter (though Inter play their round 10 match against Palermo Thursday).
This type of effort from Juventus was the sort its supporters envisioned for 2009-2010. Of course Diego will be central for any success in Italy and in Europe but Juventus’ strengths will be their attacking and midfield depth. Meanwhile stronger opponents will certainly test the Juventus backline.
The season is only 10 games old and much can, and will, happen but, last night Sampdoria were given a reality check while Juventus might have rediscovered the formula to reach their twin goals of winning the Scudetto and advancing deep into the Champion’s League. With an important home fixture against the talented but underperforming Napoli this weekend and a challenging Champions League away match in Israel on Tuesday, two more victories in the next week are critical for Juventus to sustain the momentum needed to meet their season objectives. I’ll be watching with interest to see whether the Old Lady can once again show the class and energy it demonstrated yesterday.
