Juventus Resurgance

After a slow start to the season Juventus have now opened up a sizeable lead at the top of Serie A and look to be on their way to a third successive Scudetto under Conte. The slow season was perhaps down to a number of factors, Roma and Napoli stole most of the thunder and the spotlight in Serie A, Roma in particular with their strong unbeaten start to the campaign. Juventus had two major personnel changes up top, with Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente joining the Turin giants. Both had never played in Italy before, and although Tevez initially made a goal scoring impact it took a while for the pair to settle and show their best performances

Vice Captain and midfield mystro Claudio Marchisio started the season on the treatment table needing surgery, drafting Paul Pogba straight into the starting XI. The Frenchman had impressed last season after leaving English champions United but had mostly been a rotational option for Juventus, rather than a first choice when everyone else was fit. His performances, coupled with that of Arturo Vidal meant that even after Marchisio's return the Italian struggled to move back into the starting XI. Even then his form hasn't been great, he was noticeably poor against Galatasary as Juventus crashed to a 1-0 defeat that eliminated them from Europe. It is with the Pirlo Vidal-Pogba combination that Juventus have been strongest with this seasons and has been firing them towards the league.

The above chalkboards came from the 3-0 victory of rivals Roma. Pirlo often sits behind the midfield which moves high up, giving him more space to operate within. His passes received are mostly central, contrast that to Vidal who's are mostly skewed centrally to the right. Pogba's (not shown) is very similar but to the left. This gives rival midfields problems, Vidal and Pogba maraude around and if unchallenged can either assist or create for the two up top. Vidal has 8 goals and 4 assists this campaign in the league and Pogba has 5 with 3 assists. If midfields then relent the pressure on Pirlo to cope with the midfield runners then the Italian has the world class passing ability to change games and carve teams open.

As shown against Cagliari at the weekend in a 4-1 win, Juventus have now got 2 strikers firing on both cylinders. Llorente grabbed a double and Tevez has 11 in the league. Juventus' traditional rivals (I.e the Milan clubs,) have been struggling financially and this has resulted in massive cutbacks. Juventus' current title rivals are Roma and Napoli, but Juve dealt with both those clubs well, inflicting 3-0 defeats on the pair. For Roma this represented their only league defeat so far this season but too many draws have cost them and now Juventus have been able to open up a commanding 8 point lead.

Where others drop points Juventus can use their experience, skill and midfield power to clinch vital and sometimes commanding victories. However the exit from the Champions League will hurt them both in the dressing room and in the board room. Serie A is not as rich a league as others in Europe and as proven at Milan over the last few seasons, even the very best players have their prices. Pirlo was linked with a move away as he was out of contract this summer but put pen to paper to extend his stay, but the sharks will circle around key assets Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba with speculation linking them with Premiership moves. Marchisio's lack of playing time will do little to discourage interest from him particularly from the red half of Manchester but at the moment, they remain Juventus players and look set for another Scudetto in Turin.