Juventus are experiencing a delicate moment in their season: they remain unbeaten in Serie A but have won very little in league matches.
Despite being the only team still unbeaten in the championship, their position in the league table is far from where many expected them to be after sixteen rounds.
By drawing at home against Venezia, a match they were very close to losing, Juventus failed to capitalize on a favorable schedule to close the gap with the league leaders.
Saturday’s results suggest not only has the top become more distant, but perhaps Juventus lack the necessary quality and gameplay to keep pace with those aiming for the Scudetto.
As mentioned, Juventus is the only team still unbeaten in the league, yet this hasn’t been enough to keep up with the top teams.
Despite having the third-best defense in the tournament, conceding only two more goals than Fiorentina and one more than Napoli, this solidity hasn’t translated into a clear advantage.
For context, league leaders Atalanta have lost three matches, conceding five more goals than Juventus, yet they hold a nine-point lead over Thiago Motta’s team.
Napoli, Inter, Fiorentina, and Lazio have all lost matches yet are ahead of Juventus in the standings.
So how can a team that has never lost in the tournament struggle to keep up with the leaders? The answer is straightforward: they win too infrequently.
In sixteen matches, Juventus has secured full points half as often as Atalanta, winning five fewer games than Napoli, four fewer than Lazio (who have played one game less), and three fewer than both Inter and Fiorentina (who have played two games less).
Juventus has only six victories to their name so far, against a staggering ten draws, more than any other team in the league. This level of poor performance in terms of wins at this stage of a season hasn’t been seen in 26 years.
Juventus has only managed six wins out of the first sixteen matches in one other season in the three-point era, back in 1998/1999, when they finished seventh under Marcello Lippi and later Carlo Ancelotti.
In more recent times, such a low number of victories has led to a significant drop, with Juventus nine points behind where they were at this point last season.
Another statistic that doesn’t favor Juventus is their home record. They’ve won only three out of nine home games this season, a feat they’ve only achieved twice before in their history in the same number of matches, in the 1956/1957 and 1988/1989 seasons.
