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Serie A - 18^ Giornata Andata - 6-1-2016 (ore 15:00) JUVENTUS - HELLAS VERONA - 18^ giornata di andata Mercoledí, 6 gennaio, 2016 - ore 15:00 Juventus Stadium, Torino Arbitro: Gianpaolo Calvarese Confronti ufficiali 75 - 52 (Serie A) - 9 (Coppa Italia) - 6 (Campionato divisione nazionale) - 2 (1^ categoria) - 2 (1^ divisione) - 2 (Coppa Campioni) - 2 (Serie B) Vittorie Juventus 45 - 29 (Serie A) - 4 (Coppa Italia) - 5 (Campionato divisione nazionale) - 2 (1^ categoria) - 2 (1^ divisione) - 1 (Coppa Campioni) - 2 (Serie B) Pareggi 18 - 14 (Serie A) - 3 (Coppa Italia) - 1 (Coppa Campioni) Vittorie Verona 12 - 9 (Serie A) - 2 (Coppa Italia) - 1 (Campionato divisione nazionale) Goals Juventus 141 - 89 (Serie A) - 18 (Coppa Italia) - 18 (Campionato divisione nazionale) - 8 (1^ categoria) - 4 (1^ divisione) - 2 (Coppa Campioni) - 2 (Serie B) Goals Verona 62 - 47 (Serie A) - 9 (Coppa Italia) - 3 (Campionato divisione nazionale) - 2 (1^ categoria) - 1 (1^ divisione) Juventus - Hellas Verona Serie A a Torino Confronti ufficiali 26 Vittorie Juventus 22 (L'ultima il 18.01.2015, 4-0) Pareggi 4 (L'ultimo il 14.02.1988, 0-0) Vittorie Verona 0 Goals Juventus 59 Goals Verona 17 Giocatori con più presenze e goals contro l'Hellas Verona a Torino 9 presenze Scirea Gaetano 8 Bettega Roberto 8 Cabrini Antonio 8 Causio Franco 8 Cuccureddu Antonello 7 Anastasi Pietro 7 Brio Sergio 7 Furino Giuseppe 7 Gentile Claudio 7 Morini Francesco 6 goals Bettega Roberto 5 Causio Franco 4 Anastasi Pietro 3 Capello Fabio 3 Tevez Carlos 2 Cuccureddu Antonello 2 Del Piero Alessandro 2 Laudrup Michael 2 Rossi Paolo 2 Rui Barros Gil Soares 2 Schillaci Salvatore Ultimi confronti diretti 08.04.2001 - Serie A - Verona-Juventus 0-1 04.11.2001 - Serie A - Verona-Juventus 2-2 17.03.2002 - Serie A - Juventus-Verona 1-0 09.12.2006 - Serie B - Juventus-Verona 1-0 27.04.2007 - Serie B - Verona-Juventus 0-1 22.09.2013 - Serie A - Juventus-Verona 2-1 09.02.2014 - Serie A - Verona-Juventus 2-2 15.01.2015 - Coppa Italia - Juventus-Verona 6-1 18.01.2015 - Serie A - Juventus-Verona 4-0 30.05.2015 - Serie A - Verona-Juventus 2-2 Giocate 10 - Vittorie Juventus 7 - Pareggi 3 - Vittorie Verona 0 - Goals Juventus 22 - Goals Verona 8 da juworld.net http://www.goal.com/it/tables/serie-a/13

CAN JUVENTUS WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE THIS SEASON? http://www.juvefc.com/can-juventus-win-the-champions-league-this-season/? Jan 1, 2016 After reaching the final of the Champions League last season, Juventus may be aiming to go one better and win Europe’s elite club competition in 2016. Massimiliano Allegri’s men secured their place in the last-16 stage of the competition but face a difficult two-legged clash with Bayern Munich in the first knockout round of matches. Bayern are one of the best teams in Europe and will be incredibly difficult to beat. Pep Guardiola’s men are expected to reach the latter stages of the tournament and Juve will be hard pressed to emulate last season’s run to the final – especially if the German side are in top form. However, based on recent performances, the Italian side are capable of beating Bayern and neutrals will be eagerly anticipating February’s first leg. Juventus struggled in the early stages of the season and were languishing towards the lower end of the Serie A table. In recent weeks, their form in the domestic game has completely switched around and Allegri’s side have gone on a winning run. Juve are looking ominous and the Christmas break may help them to freshen up ahead of a gruelling January. If Juventus maintain their current form throughout the duration of the campaign, there’s absolutely no reason why they cannot win Serie A for a fifth successive year. However, their supporters and players will both be gunning for success in the Champions League – which is widely regarded as the greatest prize in club football. Unfortunately for Juve, their resurgence in the league has come at the expense of their European form. Earlier in the season, Juventus were sitting pretty at the top of their group but were pipped by Manchester City after the final round of matches. The Italian giants were complacent in Europe’s elite club competition and you can ill afford to do that against the best teams on the continent. While they performed well against City, they struggled against Sevilla and Borussia Monchengladbach. These were results that ultimately decided their fate in the next round of the competition. At the time of writing, 32Red price Juventus at 29/10 to win the first leg on home soil. This is something they must do if they are to stand any chance of advancing to the quarter-finals. Juventus can take inspiration from their group stage victories against Manchester City and have every chance of beating Bayern if they can replicate their impressive performances against Manuel Pellegrini’s men. Juve won 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium and could have defeated City by a greater margin had Joe Hart not been at the top of his game. Meanwhile, they secured a 1-0 victory in Italy – a result that many believed would secure top spot in Group D. On their day, Juventus can give anybody a game and the Serie A champions will be desperate to avenge their defeat to Barcelona in last season’s final. If they perform at their very best, Juventus could defy the odds at places like 32Red, 888Sport and others and advance to the next round. From there, who knows? For Juventus to beat Bayern Munich, they must remain solid defensively – especially on home soil. The Italians cannot afford to head into the second leg on the back foot and Allegri will need all of his tactical nous and intelligence to thwart Guardiola’s men. The Bayern boss announced that he is leaving the Allianz Arena at the end of the current campaign and the Bavarians will be desperate to get their hands on the Champions League trophy in Guardiola’s final season at the club. Both managers are among the greatest in the sport and Allegri will be quietly confident of getting one over on the Bayern manager in this tactical battle. Allegri has revealed that Juventus will attack Bayern, however, the Italian knows the importance of keeping a clean sheet in European football. Can Juventus win the competition? If they can beat Bayern, they can beat anybody. It’s unfortunate that they were paired up with the Bavarians this early in the tournament but to be the best, you have to beat the best. If Allegri gets his tactics right and with a bit of luck, there’s absolutely no reason why Juve cannot advance to the next round and go one better and lift the trophy at the end of May.

Juventus Club Focus – Mid-Season Review: The Story So Far… The 2015-16 Serie A season has been a rollercoaster ride for the Juventus faithful so far. http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2016/01/juventus-club-focus-mid-season-review-the-story-so-far/? Jan 1, 2016 One win out of their first six league games meant they sat in a poor 15th place in the league table after six weeks, and they remained out of the top 10 until round 11. That particular week proved to be a turning point in the season for Massimiliano Allegri and his side, with a 1-0 loss to Sassuolo evidently being the final straw. What followed, just three days later, was a 2-1 victory over bitter rivals Torino and, since then, Juventus have won all six of their Serie A matches, as well as qualification in the Coppa Italia and the Champions League. Whether it was a sudden realisation that the league title was slipping out of their grasp, or if this comeback was planned all along, fans of La Vecchia Signora can be certain that they are back in the Scudetto challenge. Best Player Firstly, the whole squad should be praised for their recovery after losing all three of Carlos Tevez, Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal in the summer transfer window before the season even began. The front line of Juventus has really begun to show itself over the past few weeks, with the three new signings of Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic and Simone Zaza bringing energy and determination back into the side. Argentine Dybala has got 10 goals this term, while Croatian Mandzukic has scored nine times and Italian Zaza has five goals to his name. Those statistics show the tight competition there is for best player of the season so far, and Dybala deserves to be on top. His 22-year-old enthusiasm has been of further help to the rest of the squad with his four assists along with his own goals, and without him the side would have had a far less comfortable run up to Christmas. Highlight so far The aforementioned victory over Torino is probably the highlight of the campaign so far. The strong determination to stop the poor run of form and the changes in the club in the transfer market both had their own say to claim the three points. It was Juan Cuadrado, who came to the Juventus Stadium from Chelsea in the summer, who got the winning goal deep in injury time. That win put the side into 10th place in the Serie A league table, and their results have only been positive since then. Biggest disappointment The loss to Sevilla in the Champions League is the low of the campaign so far. Despite the Italians gaining qualification to the knockout stages of the European club competition, they have given themselves a hugely tough task against Bayern Munich in the next round, thanks to the defeat by Sevilla. The Spaniards hosted Juventus in the final round of group stage matches, and a draw was all that was needed to seal top spot in Group D and have an easier route to the final. Instead, it was former Juventus man Fernando Llorente himself who punished the Serie A champions, thus giving Manchester City top spot. The English side got Dynamo Kiev in the next round. Transfer hit and flop The transfer hit goes to Paulo Dybala, for his excellent adjustment to the demands that Juventus brings compared to those of lower-placed Palermo. Meanwhile, the transfer flop is a close race between Hernanes and Sami Khedira. Despite being riddled with injury issues, Brazilian international Hernanes claims this award. German international Khedira has at least managed to score a goal and assist a further two this year in a black and white shirt, while Hernanes has done neither. What next? If this question was asked ten weeks ago, the answer would be very different to what it is now. For that reason, the next 17 games in Serie A should be treated completely differently to the first 17. Juventus had a tough start to the year and it was never going to be an easy task to recover from the busy transfer window they had while also keeping an eye on their Champions League progress. However, the way that the side have battled through those problems and how they now sit fourth in the league table shows the potential of what could be achieved achieved come May. Scudetto winners might be too big a prediction for now given the close race at the top of the table, but Juventus are guaranteed to be up there and in with a chance towards the end of the 2015-16 campaign. In terms of the Champions League, it is probably too much of an ask to get to the final and do well in the league, especially with Bayern Munich waiting for them in the next round, so European hopes shouldn’t be too high for the moment. http://www.goal.com/en-gb/tables/serie-a/13?ICID=SP_TN_127

Juventus' 2016 new year's resolutions Happy New Year! http://www.blackwhitereadallover.com/2016/1/1/10692606/juventus-resolutions-for-2016-happy-new-year Jan 1, 2016 With the curtains closing on the year 2015, we welcome 2016 with hopes and wishes for another successful season for Juventus on multiple fronts. We asked the writers at your favorite Juve site (BWRAO, of course!) to answer the following question: "Pick one Juventino (player/manager/Board), and what should his New Year's resolution be?" Jose R. Mr. Marotta. Give the coach what he wants or don't get it at all. Don't get me wrong, he is a great DS, but when Anotnio Conte was around he could not bring wingers for the life of him (Elia?). Now that Conte is gone, Juve have wingers. Max Allegri wanted a good trequartista, and he got Hernanes. Hamsik was a great idea, but if it didn't pan out better save the cash, he knows full well that something else will come up soon. Aaron I'm picking Giorgio Chiellini, and pleading with him to make a resolution not to make more than one (1) rash challenge a game. Get it out of the way early in a non-vital area of the field, please, King Kong. Otherwise, you're perfect. Tudor Paulo Dybala. Train, learn, grow and become the modern Juventus legend who led the club to multiple Scudetti and a Champions League trophy. Do argue with this if you want, but the kid can do it. Jose A. For Paul Pogba, "Win the Ballon d' Or 2016". The kid is awesome, He'll play the Euros at home and Juventus is looking like a juggernaut right now. Why not? Danny For Sami Khedira: To say healthy. Why? Because we've seen how effective Juventus' midfield can be when he teams with Claudio Marchisio and Paul Pogba. It may be a stretch at this point â no pun intended! â for Khedira to stay healthy for extended periods of time at this point of his career with everything that has happened in the past, but a boy can dream, right? Calvin Claudio Marchisio - to resolve to play every single minute of every single important game of 2016. The side is much better off with his calming influence, and we will need him at his best to even get close to the tripletta. http://www.goal.com/en-gb/tables/serie-a/13?ICID=SP_TN_127

Lichtsteiner: Juventus Miss Pirlo http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2015/12/lichtsteiner-juventus-miss-pirlo/? Dec 31, 2015 Juventus full-back Stephan Lichtsteiner has admitted that losing New York City FC midfielder Andrea Pirlo was a real blow to the Bianconeri. Pirlo left The Old Lady in the summer to move to the MLS side after his contract with Juve expired at the end of the 2014-15 season. “Now we have Pogba and Marchisio who can provide the passes Pirlo used to provide,” said Lichtsteiner in an interview with Premium Sport. “However, losing someone like Andrea is always a blow because he is a champion who gave the team so much. The whole team feels this, not just me. “This year was very successful, in many ways it was a little unexpected . The team is strong, we have so many champions who play at such a high level.” The full-back was also asked about Juventus’s Champions League last 16 tie against Bayern Munich and whether Carlos Tevez and Paulo Dybala are comparable. “We’ll see if compared to three years ago something has changed but it’s hard to say now, they are a very strong team and they have a good coach,” added Lichtsteiner. “Tevez and Dybala? I do not like this comparison because Tevez is older, he has won more, he is a true champion. “Dybala can become a champion, but right now you can not compare a 20-year-old with a 30-year-old, we will see what happens in the next decade.”

Juve duo in France Football XI http://www.football-italia.net/77721/juve-duo-france-football-xi? Dec 31, 2015 France Football named two Juventus players in their Team of 2015, which was dominated by Barcelona stars. The highly-respected magazine unveiled its ideal XI of the year. Winning the Scudetto, Coppa Italia and reaching the Champions League Final saw Juve represented with two members of the old guard. They included goalkeeper Gigi Buffon and centre-back Giorgio Chiellini. Barcelona dominated the line-up with four members, while Kevin De Bruyne was the only Premier League representative. France Football Team of 2015: Buffon (Juventus); Alves (Barcelona), Godin (Atletico Madrid), Chiellini (Juventus), Alaba (Bayern Munich); Iniesta (Barcelona), Krychowiak (Sevilla), De Bruyne (Man City); Messi (Barcelona), Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Neymar (Barcelona)

Barcelona NOT leading race for in-demand Pogba, insists Raiola The Juventus star's agent has played down the chances of the Frenchman leaving Turin, though expects "the big clubs" to make moves this summer for a player who will cost €100m. http://www.goal.com/en/news/11/transfer-zone/2015/12/31/18860742/-? Dec 31, 2015 Paul Pogba's agent Mino Raiola has dismissed speculation that Barcelona are the runaway favourites to sign the Juventus midfielder at the end of the season, though is expecting interest to heat up next summer. The France star has a contract with Juve until June 2019, but clubs such as Barca, Manchester City and Chelsea are all believed to be interested in signing him. Spanish and European champions Barca were thought to be in pole position for Pogba, but Raiola claims that is not necessarily the case and reiterated his belief that the Frenchman will cost at least €100 million (£73m). "The big clubs will come knocking for Paul again at the end of the season. I don't know how much chance Juventus have of holding on to him," he told Tuttosport. "Paul will make a decision based on the offers he receives and based on how he feels. He was in a similar situation last summer. "Are Barcelona in pole position to sign him? The only team ahead of the others is Juventus. Paul has a strong connection with Juve. Paul is the type of guy who thinks things through and he thinks with his heart. He felt that it was not the right moment to leave last summer and he was right. "He stayed put and overcame his initial difficulties, when the fans jeered him and treated him unfairly. It did not bother Paul, but I did not like it. But it will not affect Paul's decision at the end of the season. "The fact that Paul decided to stay with Juventus last summer shows that he has invested in Juventus. And the Juventus hierarchy has also invested a lot by opting not to cash in on Paul. Paul is like a limited edition Ferrari, there are only a few who can afford him. "I don't think €100m will be enough to sign him, but it depends on Juventus president Andrea Agnelli. He has grown as a player and his price will have grown as well."

Raiola: 'Conte return to Juve' http://www.football-italia.net/77717/raiola-conte-return-juve? Dec 31, 2015 Mino Raiola “wouldn’t be surprised” to see Antonio Conte back at Juventus and reveals he was very close to Milan. The Italy manager’s future remains the source of speculation, as he could well leave after Euro 2016. “I can see Jose Mourinho at Manchester United. Even when at Milan, Max was fascinated by English football. I think if an offer arrived from the Premier League, he’d be tempted. Of course it also depends on Juve,” agent Raiola told Tuttosport. “I admire Conte a great deal, he can go anywhere, but whoever signs him must allow the Coach to express his character to the full. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he returned to Juve. I had taken Antonio to Milan and we went really close too. At the time, in 2014, I told him: ‘This is the moment to join Milan, as with Juve you’ll manage about four games.’ “He proved me wrong – he quit after two training sessions. That idea is in the past now, Milan must give space to an excellent Sinisa Mihajlovic. “I really hope Conte leaves the Nazionale after Euro 2016. A man like Antonio can’t be at the beck and call of a terrible Federation President like Carlo Tavecchio.” Carlo Ancelotti has already agreed terms to replace Pep Guardiola on the Bayern Munich bench next season. “Bayern will improve. Guardiola is a great Coach, but a complicated person. He really can’t stay at the same club for more than three years.”

Allegri tipped for Premier League http://www.football-italia.net/77708/allegri-tipped-premier-league? Dec 31, 2015 English papers tip Juventus boss Max Allegri to take over at Chelsea or Manchester United next season. There have already been reports in the Italian Press that Allegri is learning English and fascinated by the idea of working in the Premier League. Now the Daily Mirror’s back page story suggests the 48-year-old is among the hot favourites for both Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford benches. Allegri is under contract with Juventus until June 2017 and last term came close to an historic Treble, winning the Scudetto, Coppa Italia and reaching the Champions League Final. That earned him a nomination for FIFA’s World Coach of the Year award. Italian media maintain current Italy manager – and Allegri’s predecessor at Juve – Antonio Conte is also in the running for both Chelsea and Manchester United.

RUMOURS: Allegri eyes Man United and Chelsea jobs The Italian is reportedly taking English lessons in a bid to prepare himself for one of the Premier League's top jobs. http://www.goal.com/en/news/11/transfer-zone/2015/12/31/18853622/-? Dec 31, 2015 Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri reportedly has his eyes set on taking over at Manchester United or Chelsea, according to the Daily Mirror. The former AC Milan coach won Serie A last season and guided his side to the Champions League final, where the Bianconeri were beaten by Barcelona. Juventus are back in contention for the league title again this term as well after recovering from a poor start to the campaign. However, Allegri has just 18 months remaining on his contract and could depart this summer if United part ways with Louis van Gaal or Abramovich makes a move for his services.

Evra: Great season awaits Juventus After putting their early season slump behind them, the French full-back says the Bianconeri are united in their pursuit of silverware. http://www.goal.com/en/news/723/serie-a/2015/12/30/18844032/-? Dec 30, 2015 Patrice Evra says defending Serie A champions Juventus are fully focused on winning titles this season after overcoming their early slump. Juve began the 2015-16 campaign with one win in their opening six matches, but since late October they have turned their domestic form around - winning seven in succession. That form has seen them surge up the table to within three points of leaders Inter, and Evra claims the run of results has forged a renewed faith in the ability of the squad. "Psychologically there was something wrong," he told Sky Sport Italia. "[but] now we're going in the direction we wanted at the start of the season. "I've always believed that when you play for Juve, the goal at the start of the year is to win the title and a lot of trophies. "I believe in my team-mates, I believe in this club and I think we can do something great. "I've always compared us to all the other teams, and the other teams can win the title, but of the teams I've played against I'd say the most dangerous is Juventus. "I don't think that's arrogance, because I totally trust my team-mates, and if we give our all we'll reach our objectives." Juventus are at home to struggling Hellas Verona when Serie A resumes on January 6 and will be aiming to close the gap at the top of the table.

The 15 best Juventus-related things from the 2015 calendar year http://www.blackwhitereadallover.com/2015/12/30/10662960/juventus-2015-serie-a-scudetto-coppa-italia-champions-league Dec 30, 2015 The past 12 months have been rather interesting — and that's probably putting things somewhat lightly based on what's happened. We've seen Juventus do things the club hasn't done in years. We've seen some of the most important players of the past decade head out and a new-look roster try to make its own mark in the process. It has been, well, the kind of year that is hard to truly put into words sometimes. That's both because of the good, the bad and everything in between. But we're going to try. Or, at least, try some of it. It would be impossible to recap every single solitary thing that Juventus did from the first day of January to the final game of the 2015 calendar year. Unless you're into 20,000-word posts that may well keep you staring at your screen for an hour or two, then there's only the short version of it. (Just for the record, this post will end up being just over 2,700 words.) How do you define the year of 2015 for Juventus? Something that was both trophy-filled and made a good bit of history is always going to be described and/or defined in a positive sense. But, like I said, the summer of 2015 was one of big-time change. We saw the likes of Carlos Tévez, Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal — drink! — headline a group of players that headed out of the club after one hell of a short yet successful run. But even with change, even with the ups and downs that you might not expect one of the best clubs around might have to deal with, Juventus' 2015 was quite the run — both for the good and not-so-good. So, with all of that being said, in no particular order — although some are much more obvious than the others — here are the 15 best Juventus things from the calendar year of 2015. Juventus making the Champions League final For many of us who have become Juve fans within the last decade or so, the day of June 6 was the first time we had ever seen Juventus play in a Champions League final. For those of us who have been Juve fans for much, much longer, it was the return to the biggest game in Europe after such a long wait. Juventus didn't win the game, losing 3-1 to Barcelona in Berlin, but had one hell of a run to get there. Nobody really expected them to get to the Champions League final for whatever reason. They were the club not many picked to get to the semifinals, or even past the round of 16. But what did they do? Shut all of those folks up. They knocked off Real Madrid to get to the final before losing to the machine known as Barca. Was the final score against Barca a reflection of how the game went? Yeah, probably. And even though I'm somebody who doesn't exactly go for the whole 'morale victory' thing, Juve getting to the Champions League final last season was one hell of a fun — and incredibly stressful a lot of the time, too — ride that we all viewed from afar. Juventus winning a fourth straight Scudetto Regardless of the managerial situation when last season got underway, Juventus had the best team in Serie A last season. There were things to overcome on top of Antonio Conte stepping aside and Max Allegri taking over the ship. Along the whole shift from one manager to the other, though, it was pretty much well established that Juve were the best team in Italy — and by a comfortable margin, too. Juventus faced some competition from Roma for a cool minute, but then once Rudi Garcia unintentionally decided his club would do nothing but rack up draw after draw, Juventus was able to pull away and claim their 33rd Serie A title. It was the confirmation of what we already knew — Juve were the top dogs in Serie A for yet another season. Good to be reminded of it, though. Juventus finally winning Coppa Italia No. 10 There may not be a silver star on the first Juventus kit adidas has ever produced, but that doesn't take away from Juventus finally getting a record 10th Coppa Italia win back in late May. For years Juve had been chasing said achievement, with their previous Coppa triumph coming 20 years earlier in 1995. Thanks to a player making his return to the club after bouncing around Serie A, Alessandro Matri, and some overcoming of odds along the way, Juve captured their 10th Coppa with a 2-1 win over Lazio in extra time at the Olimpico in Rome. Gigi Buffon has continued to be the gold standard despite hitting his late-30s Now that the titles are out of the way, we can mention individuals. And it's hard to get all that far into a list of the most influential Juventus players of any given season over the past two decades without mentioning San Gigi himself. Buffon turned 37 years old less than 30 days into the 2015 calendar year, and he pretty much began his late-30s like he has played throughout the majority of his Juventus career. I know I say it all the time, but it's pretty remarkable that somebody at his age can play at the kind of level he does game after game, month after month, season after season. Whether it's in the Champions League final against Barcelona or making one singular save to keep Juventus in the lead against some mid-table Serie A club, Buffon is defying the logic that says he is supposed to regress at this point of his lengthy career. The saves, like the one pictured above, continue to blow our mind. And, as is the case, they usually equal Juventus getting at least one point coming their way. Keep being you, San Gigi, keep being you. Juventus didn't miss a beat going from one manager to another Yes, I know the Max Allegri era technically began in the summer of 2014, but stick with me here. Juventus didn't truly hit its stride until late-2014 and the early weeks of 2015 as they both pulled away from the pack in Serie A and went on their unexpected run on the Champions League. A lot of it had to do with Allegri finding the right kind of formula when it came to the players that were available to him at any given time. We saw Allegri shift between formations and tactical setups both from a game-to-game basis as well as in-game scenarios. Even this season when things weren't going right Allegri stayed the course and continued to preach patience. As we'll get to in a little bit, that patience is paying off based on how Juve have rebounded from their early-season struggles. Max Allegri has shut a lot of us up since he became Juventus manager Like, me, for one. I say this because not many people were all too convinced Allegri was the right man for the job when he took over for Conte in the summer of 2014. And, even with Juventus struggling to start this season, Allegri has been able to find the right solution to correct the early-season wrongs and get back into the Scudetto race. It's definitely helped him out that Juve has seen important players get healthy and get back on form, but to say Allegri hasn't played any kind of serious role in the current rise up the table would be so completely wrong. The absolutely beautiful goals Juventus scored over the last 12 months Being a team that has some really, really players on its roster, scoring pretty goals is almost a certainty. And in the calendar year of 2015, Juventus players certainly scored their fair share of good looking goals. Whether it was Carlos Tévez's right-footed hammer in the second leg against Borussia Dortmund... Or Álvaro Morata's opener in the first leg of Juve's Champions League semifinal showdown against Real Madrid after the build-up to the goal included close to 30 passes... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehUt758euD0 Or Andrea Pirlo's free kick against Torino in late-April where he basically started celebrating before the ball hit the back of the net... Or Paul Pogba turning nothing into an absolute something as Juve conquered the Stadio San Paolo for the first time in over a decade back in January... Or Paulo Dybala with a wonderful bit of skill just a few weeks ago in Juventus' 2-0 win over Lazio... https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=h_7KbjnRN2w There are many more that can be added to this compilation of videos, and feel free to share them in the comments below because it's impossible to get tired of Juventus scoring goals. But being reminded of the wonderful things that helped Juventus achieve even larger wonderful things is always a nice thing to look back on. Or, in this case, watch on loop 10 more times on Vine and/or YouTube. The continued development of Claudio Marchisio's game ...on the field, you fools. He's a happily married man with two wonderful children. At this point, Marchisio being the deep-lying, hub of Juve's midfield is not a new development. He has adapted to this role as well as anybody could have hoped. We know how important he is to this Juventus team, mainly because they are so different when he is not in the lineup. And when Marchisio has been in the lineup this season, Juve are near perfection with their results. Marchisio is important for every reason you can think of — his calm, cool and collected on-field presence, what he adds to the midfield both on offense and in the defensive third and his obvious leadership both on the field and off it. He's one of Juve's alternate captains after Buffon, and that's how it should be. Álvaro Morata's goals in the Champions League knockout rounds The first part of Morata's Juve career was clearly an adjustment period to life and football in Italy, thus the reason why Allegri chose to bring him along slowly. But once he got up to speed, it was full steam ahead for the young Spaniard. Morata's second half of the season included big goal after big goal. Not just big goals, but big goals that were in the Champions League. Morata scored at least one goal against three of the four Juventus knockout round opponents. There were the goals against Borussia Dortmund, then the pair against his former club Real Madrid — including the one that sent Juve to the Champions League final — and one more for good measure in the final against Barcelona. One Argentine striker leaves his mark on Juventus Carlos Tévez's stay at Juventus wasn't very long in the grand scheme of things. Two years at a club isn't long no matter if it's a star player or one that is essentially serving as the late-game substitute at the end of games in the mold of Simone Padoin. But in those two seasons, Tévez had one of the best runs of any Juventus striker we've ever seen. In a post-Del Piero world, Tévez proved to be worthy of such the lofty standards set by those who wear the Juventus jersey with No. 10 on the back of it. His final goal-scoring tally at Juve was simply superb: 96 games played, 50 goals scored. Twenty-nine of those goals came during the 2014-15 season, including seven of those coming in the Champions League. No one can blame him for wanting to finish his career where it started in Argentina. You just wish, with the way he played, his Juventus career lasted another year or two longer. But even with that, he was one hell of a signing. Another Argentine striker begins his own Juventus career with a bang The initial price tag was steep, and when it's all said and done, Palermo will likely see €40 million head in its direction. But, as the saying goes, the price to acquire young, world-class talent isn't cheap (unless it's Paul Pogba), and Dybala is definitely a world-class player in the making. The first month of his Juventus career involved us wondering why Allegri wasn't playing him consistently. The next three months have involved us looking at Dybala and making swooning sounds while watching score goal after goal. In 16 Serie A appearances this season, he's already two-thirds of the way to his goal total from last season with Palermo. Watching Dybala grow into his role at Juventus has been one of the most enjoyable things of this current season. He has the skill, the personality and the obvious desire to make his stint at Juventus a truly special one. Paul Pogba's development into one of the best in the world Many will look at The Guardian's Top 100 footballers of 2015 list and wonder why Pogba is ranked so high, above the likes of . (Amongst other things, I will look at said list and wonder where the hell Claudio Marchisio is, but that's just me.) But no matter where you think Pogba should be at on said list of the best in the world, he's up there somewhere. In a four-year period since arriving at Juventus, Pogba has gone from "teenager with potential that Manchester United let go for free" to the eye of every big-money club who wants to spend upwards of €100 million for the 22-year-old French midfielder. That's quite a transformation, and it's not like Pogba is doing anything to make people think otherwise. The influx of young talent on the roster Dybala. Morata. Stefano Sturaro. Daniele Rugani. Alex Sandro. Maybe we can thrown in Domenico Berardi in a few months, Alberto Cerri in a year or two, and some other names that will likely be added along the way. A lot of clubs would like to have a core like that to build around going forward. This is Juve's current situation. Pretty cool, huh? This is a big part of what the summer of 2015 was all about. Of course, the task of replacing the players that left over the summer was priority No. 1 because Juve are still expected to be in the title hunt. But, maybe just as important, the front office's job was to lower the average age of the squad — and that's what they did. Juve's core, while still led by the likes of Buffon, Marchisio and the BBC defense, is much younger than it was come the end of the 2014-15 season. And to think that in the summer of 2016 that Beppe Marotta and Fabio Paratici will likely add more to it (headlined by, we all hope, a Berardi signing) ... man, oh, man. Leonardo Bonucci's rise to one of the best centerbacks in Europe This guy, this guy right here, has seen a lot happen since he arrived from Bari (and Genoa, technically) before the 2010-11 season. A lot of it has been good, some of it not-so-good, and a little bit of it had to do with how Bonucci has personally played. But what we saw during the 2014-15 season was a player who had made the leap and had the best season of his career. Bonucci wasn't just really good, but he was great. Of all the great performances Juve got from its incredibly talented roster last season, Bonucci had one of the best — and most consistent — of the bunch. JuventusFC ✔ @juventusfcen Who has made the most Juventus appearances in 2015? Our number 19, @bonucci_leo19! Juventus is set up for another Scudetto run And thus the beauty of having a seven-game domestic winning streak to close the calendar year. With their first two games of 2016 against clubs in the bottom third of the table, the possibility of extending that winning streak into double digits is a real possibility. When the second half of the season officially begins in the third week of January, Juventus will — at least in theory — with a legitimate shot at winning the Serie A title once again. Who knows how many points they will be out of first place by the time they see Udinese for the second time this season, but if they continue along their current path, things will be awfully good with so many big games arriving in late-January, February and March.

‘Juventus can beat Bayern’ http://www.football-italia.net/77692/%E2%80%98juventus-can-beat-bayern%E2%80%99 Dec 30, 2015 Patrice Evra believes Juventus' organisation can help them beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League. The Bianconeri lost in the final of the competition last year, but have a tough task in the Last 16 of this year’s competition as they face the German champions. “We’ll have to play the way Juve know how,” Evra told Sky. “I’ve always said that to my teammates, when I came here last year, after the Dortmund game I said ‘let’s go to the final’ and people would laugh. “I was truly in awe of the organisation of Italian teams. When you’re organised you can do well, even against a great team like Barcelona in the final we weren’t far away from winning. “Juve are a difficult team to beat because of that, so I don’t think Bayern would have been jumping for joy after drawing Juve in the Last 16.” The French international has been rotated with new arrival Alex Sandro in recent weeks, and admits he’d rather play every week. “I’m someone who likes to play every game, and I don’t like rotation. But Alex Sandro is doing better than at the beginning of the season, and I’ve also given him some advice. “I’m happy, because the most important thing is the results, we have to let the new arrivals grow. “I’m more the present than the future of Juventus, so that’s why we get along calmly, working together. “But as I said, I like to play every game, and like Sir Alex Ferguson said, I’ll rest when I retire. “For 2016 I’d ask for more sacrifice, more collaboration from everyone. “Our objective hasn’t yet been acheived, and it’ll only be achieved when we’re champions of Italy for the fifth time in a row.”

Lippi: 'Allegri just like me' http://www.football-italia.net/77671/lippi-allegri-just-me Dec 30, 2015 World Cup-winning Coach Marcello Lippi says Massimo Allegri resembles him: 'He's concrete and flexible, but against Bayern Munich it's tough'. The tactician from Viareggio had a varied career after the unfortunate 2010 World Cup campaign, including a coaching experience with Guangzhou Evergrande in China. “But I wouldn't like someone to think that I'm trying to market myself,” he told La giornalaccio rosa dello Sport. “That's not my case. “I said enough with China, but I wasn't tired of football, I just wanted to be closer to home. I do have a craving for football, I find myself watching matches and thinking what I would do, who I'd sub off and on. “If a chance comes up, then great. Otherwise, it's fine all the same.” The 67-year-old promoted the idea that coaches are now worth as much as top players. “The idea that a Coach counts for 20 per cent at most is now obsolete. It's just not true, and it wasn't that way for [Jose] Mourinho, [Fabio] Capello, [Louis] Van Gaal or myself. “The top players themselves expect a strong and confident guide. Not a father, or a brother, or a nice guy, but someone who makes you win and improves your contract. “At this level it's not just the technical competence that makes a difference. Everyone is highly organised, with an identity. “The Coach has to be a competent expert, capable of getting into the head of his players and bringing out the best. “There are some who are excellent in terms of methodology but who struggle in interpreting the players and their adaptability to their game. “And others who are less 'scientific', but who understand everything with down-to-earth wisdom and can choose the right players. Like [Osvaldo] Bagnoli: he knew how to win and show a spectacular football.” Lippi then discussed Juventus Coach Max Allegri, whom he claims resembles him in several ways. “Starting from his signing for Juve at the age of 46. He is concrete, he has good technical-tactical knowledge, and he can change things over the season or even over the same game, the way I used to do. “And he's brave. It's not like everyone to bench [Alvaro] Morata and notice the anger and the hardness in [Mario] Mandzukic to start a fantastic comeback that nobody believed in any longer. “Likewise for the idea of a return to the 3-5-2. It's a shame about the KO against Sevilla, it was avoidable and it changes the Champions League. “Bayern Munich are one of the strongest. But judging by [Coach Pep] Guardiola's expression you could tell he wasn't too happy either.”

Evra: ‘Still not real Juventus’ http://www.football-italia.net/77691/evra-‘still-not-real-juventus’? Dec 30, 2015 Patrice Evra warns “we’re still not Juventus, because the real Juve wins the League”. The defender criticised his teammates after the defeat to Sassuolo earlier this season, but seven wins in a row have propelled the Bianconeri back into the Scudetto race. “We had a meeting after Sassuolo and we said the things we needed to say,” Evra revealed in an interview with Sky. “At the end we all discussed the importance of playing for this club and respecting this shirt. I think it was a psychological problem. “Psychologically there was something wrong, and we had to meet and say what was wrong, sacrifice for our teammates instead of always complaining. “In the end I think we all had to pull in the same direction, and there wasn’t a problem for the new arrivals or the older heads, we got together and we reformed our family. “Now we’re going in the direction we wanted at the start of the season. I’ve always believed that when you play for Juve, the goal at the start of the year is to win the title and a lot of trophies. “That’s the way it’s always been for me, and that’s what I said when I gave my interview. Maybe some people laughed, but I still believed. “I believe in my teammates, I believe in this club and I think we can do something great. “But we mustn’t forget, we’re still not Juve, because the real Juve wins the League, it’s only at the end that we can talk. “At first people talked, and that’s normal as we didn’t have a good start to the season, but now that people are saying we’re favourites it doesn’t change anything. “The goal remains the same, and we haven’t done anything yet. “I’ve always compared us to all the other teams, and the other teams can win the title, but of the teams I’ve played against I’d say the most dangerous is Juventus. “I don’t think that’s arrogance, because I totally trust my teammates, and if we give our all we’ll reach our objectives.” Evra was also asked what he did over the Christmas break. “Something really important. Something more important than football and winning the Champions League. “Since 2012 I’ve been working with UNICEF, and in my project we have three orphanages with children in them. “We started with 20, now there are 500 children. It’s in a very poor neighbourhood in Dakar in Senegal. “I can’t thank God enough for giving me the opportunity to help these children who don’t have anything, and the staff who are working for them. “It was a very emotional and moving experience, it was the best holiday of my life.”

'Don't compare Dybala, Tevez' http://www.football-italia.net/77683/dont-compare-dybala-tevez? Dec 30, 2015 Juventus full-back Stephan Lichtsteiner looks forward to playing Bayern Munich, but resents comparisons of Paulo Dybala to Carlos Tevez. The 31-year-old is back to being an integral part of the Bianconeri after missing out on more than one month of the season in order to undergo surgery. “Last year we played a great season in spite of the change of Coach,” he told Premium Sport. “This year we had some trouble. “We weren't able to score and we conceded goals at the first opportunity. After Sassuolo we had a chat, but we'd have taken this path even without words. The team is strong and I'm not surprised we're back at these levels.” The Swiss was also asked about his cardiac trouble and the month spent recovering. “It was a period that allowed me to think a lot. I wanted to come back as soon as possible. “At first I didn't know exactly what the problem was and I couldn't stop thinking about it. In the end everything worked out for the best and returning to the pitch and to my teammates was a pleasure. “The Champions League? We'll see whether anything has changed compared to three years ago. “Bayern are very strong and they have an excellent Coach. It's going to be a good challenge and it'll be nice to play against Vidal and Coman, in whose company we played some important seasons. “Dybala? I don't like it when they compare him to Tevez, who is older, won a lot more, and walked his own path to become a true champion. “Dybala can do the same, but you can't compare a 20-year-old to a 30-year-old. We'll see what the next ten years have in store.”

Chelsea To Consider Move For Juventus Coach http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2015/12/chelsea-to-consider-move-for-juventus-coach/? Dec 30, 2015 Struggling Premier League champions Chelsea are reportedly considering making a move to bring Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri to West London. Following the departure of Jose Mourinho from the Stamford Bridge side earlier this month, Guus Hiddink has taken temporary charge at the Blues until the end of the season, but the club are still searching for a long-term successor. The Metro report that billionaire owner Roman Abramovich is considering Allegri, having been impressed with his success at the Bianconeri last season, when the tactician guided the club to their fourth successive Scudetto, triumph in the Coppa Italia and to the Champions League final in Berlin, where they lost out to Barcelona. Juventus, too, started their title defence poorly. However, the Old Lady have since recovered and Allegri’s men now find themselves in fourth place, just three points behind Serie A leaders Inter.

A New Year's Resolution for Juventus Boss Massimiliano Allegri http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2602363-a-new-years-resolution-for-juventus-boss-massimiliano-allegri? Dec 30, 2015 January 1 is fast approaching, meaning it is time for the annual round of promises for us to keep as one year draws to an end and another begins. New Year’s resolutions are tough to make, but perhaps Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has one to keep which could see his side enjoy a fine 2016. As discussed in this earlier post, the coach can reflect happily on his previous 12 months as he led the Turin giants to a string of impressive results, but he will certainly be looking to match those feats again this time around. Overcoming a poor start and having won their last seven league fixtures, Juventus are now perfectly poised to do just that, a matter Allegri himself noted in an interview with the Corriere della Sera just last week. “We have room for improvement, but we can have a great season,” he said (h/t Football Italia). “We started with 10 new players, and with some uncertainty having lost some guarantees.” OptaPaolo ✔ @OptaPaolo 7 - Massimiliano Allegri has won seven consecutive league games for the first time in the Serie A. Confidence. Going on to add that “the team is growing and we mustn’t stop,” the former Milan chief hit upon something that should form the basis of his resolution for 2016, which is to push Alvaro Morata back to prominence. The Spanish striker has struggled to match the impact he had last term, netting just three goals in all competitions so far this season. The last of those came in the October 4 victory over Bologna, and since that date he has started just eight matches as he has slipped down Allegri’s pecking order in attack. Given the form of Mario Mandzukic and Paulo Dybala that is little surprise, the former becoming deadly in front of goal while the latter continues to impress with both his scoring and his all-round play. Dybala’s growing importance was discussed in detail here, but Juventus must hope that Morata—who was vital to their march to the Champions League final last term—can rediscover his best form quickly. The problem first reared its head in pre-season, with the player substituted against Lechia Gdansk not long after being introduced from the bench. Allegri lambasted his poor attitude in his post-match interview. “It wasn’t Morata’s day and I didn’t like his attitude,” the coach told reporters per Football Italia. “That is why I asked him to get off the pitch. He made me angry on the pitch, but then he was good as he went off to train by himself.” The tension rumbled on, but there is hope for the future, particularly looking closely at Morata’s performances in 2014/15. Indeed, just four of his tally of 15 goals last term came before the Christmas break, putting him in a very similar position to this term as he once again looks to earn a place in the first-choice XI. Allegri insists there is no problem between him and the striker, explaining the situation to a press conference ahead of the Lazio match earlier this month as he told reporters (h/t Football Italia): Morata is an extraordinary player who is regaining a good physical and mental condition. There’s no problem with him. Against City I assured him, I didn’t yell at him. He must give a lot to Juventus and I demand a lot from him as I do from [simone] Zaza, who did well when he came on against Palermo. Now behind Mandzukic and Dybala rather than Fernando Llorente and Carlo Tevez, Morata is in a similar position to last year, and Allegri must make a major attempt to help the 23-year-old become a central figure once again.

Italian Coaches wanted in Europe http://www.football-italia.net/77674/italian-coaches-wanted-europe? Dec 30, 2015 Azzurri Coach Antonio Conte, Juventus' Max Allegri and Leicester City's Claudio Ranieri are in high demand, say reports, starting a domino effect. The recent displacements in international coaching, on from the sacking of Jose Mourinho from Chelsea and the projected exchange of Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti at Bayern Munich, are causing ripples that influence Italian football substantially. According to La giornalaccio rosa dello Sport, Conte is the object of desire for several clubs in the Premier League, most notably Manchester United for next season. The 46-year-old's preference is believed to be Paris Saint-Germain, even though recent reports suggested he was open to the possibility of working with Roma. Arsenal is also believed to be after Conte, but they are equally interested in Allegri, who might leave Juventus at the end of this season regardless of the result. But Allegri is also an option for Chelsea, as is Ranieri, after his surprising campaign with Leicester City. Any of these movements could cause a whole after-effect of signings and dismissals in Serie A. Orphaned of Allegri, Juventus would reportedly mount an assault for Fiorentina's Paulo Sousa, or even think of a dramatic return of Conte. This would result in a clash with Roma and Milan, whose first choice is also the Azzurri Coach, and whose alternatives include the likes of Sassuolo's Eusebio Di Francesco and Luciano Spalletti.

Paulo Dybala is already one of Serie A's best http://www.blackwhitereadallover.com/2015/12/29/10682640/paulo-dybala-is-one-of-serie-as-best Dec 29, 2015 When I bring up Paulo Dybala, perhaps best known as one of half of Dab Gang, in a discussion with other fans of the game, I usually get the same few comments: "He's got a ton of potential." "He could be one of the best strikers in Italy someday." It's true that he's nowhere near his peak, but what if I told you that all of this "potential" talk is kind of misleading? He's one of the best forwards in Italy right now. While watching any game, his impact is immediately obvious. His ability to drop into the midfield, receive the ball, and make runs at the defense has been huge for a Juventus attack that has struggled at times this season. Perhaps the most striking of his skills is his ridiculous first touch, which allows him to receive passes in stride and immediately launch into a deceptive move off the dribble. He's been productive both as a goal scoring threat and as a passer and he's even proven handy on free kicks and corners. He has the skillset of a complete forward and it'll be fascinating to see what sort of player he evolves into. But that's besides the point. Right now, he's playing like one the best players in Serie A. While Squawka's "performance score" stat can be a bit iffy as a measure of player performance (Alejandro Gomez probably isn't the third-best dude in the league), it currently places Dybala as the seventh-most productive player -- all positions included -- in the Italy. Perhaps more telling are the traditional stats. He currently sits at seventh among all players (second among forwards) in key passes, while playing less minutes than all but one player in the top 10. He currently sits at fourth in goals with eight so far (all with his left foot) and 12th in assists, with three. He's knocked in a goal every 137.5 minutes, which is a strong rate that should only improve (he's put 50% of his shots on target during the win streak). He's also sixth in Serie A in shots attempted for the season (Dab Gang co-founder Paul Pogba is fifth) despite coming off the bench for much of the early part of the season and having a relatively low minutes total. Don't be shocked if his goal scoring rate improves even further in the next few months. When we talk about Paulo Dybala, we're not only talking about someone with a bright future. We're talking about a player opponents should fear in the present.