It hasn’t been a great week for Juventus. Following the 2020/21 Serie A season, when I Bianconeri almost missed out on Champions League football; fans returning to the Juventus Stadium are hoping for better, but their team haven’t made a great start.
Following the sacking of Andrea Pirlo, former boss Max Allegri has arrived back at Juventus, but things have changed since he left in 2019. Cristiano Ronaldo arrived and he has now departed, and the club lost the Scudetto to Inter Milan for the first time in a decade. And early Serie A 2021 results have been underwhelming, meaning the Old Lady is no longer invincible.
Down the road at Torino, two opening defeats have left Ivan Juric’s side fearing another relegation battle. Il Toro finished 17th last season while Juric’s Hellas Verona had a fine campaign. He won’t be regretting his move just yet, but Juric will expect better.
Away from Turin, there are happy smiles in Milan, where Inter have opened up with two wins, and also in Rome, where Lazio have made an explosive start and star striker Ciro Immobile is on fire.
Is the Old Lady grieving her loss?
So Cristiano Ronaldo is off to Manchester United and he is yet to be replaced, if at all. The Old Lady had to sell their biggest star to balance the books and it looks like Allegri may have to go with what he’s got. It’s been a difficult six months in Turin. The club was at the forefront of the proposed breakaway Super League last season and now Allegri’s task is to refocus his players on domestic matters first, and then to make a better attempt at the Champions League.
But, following a 2-2 draw away to Udinese, a shock home reversal to Empoli has left Juventus five points behind the early leaders, including Inter Milan. A 21st-minute goal from Leonardo Mancuso was enough for Empoli to spring the surprise. Juventus won the shot count 18 to 11 and five the three on target, but that is not the total domination we’ve come to expect from I Bianconeri.
Paulo Dybala has been given the captain’s armband and he failed to spark his team while Federico Chiesa, who shone so brightly for Italy at Euro 2020, seems to be suffering from a hangover and he was substituted midway through the second half.
The early season Serie A 2021 betting odds point to a two-team battle between Juventus and Inter Milan, with the Old Lady slightly edging it at the moment, but that will change quickly if I Bianconeri continues to disappoint.
Champions’ perfect start
In contrast, Inter have started superbly, beating Genoa 4-0 and following that up with another comfortable win against decent opposition. Here at SBOTOP we tipped I Nerazzurri to beat Hellas Verona with a bit to spare, and so they did. They trailed at halftime to a goal from Ivan Ilic, but then stormed back in the second half, Lautaro Martinez levelling two minutes after the break. Verona battled well but two late goals from Joaquin Correa sealed the deal to give new head coach Simone Inzaghi a perfect beginning.
Immobile sniffing another Capocannoniere
With Ronaldo off to the Premier League, hot on the trail of former Inter striker Romelu Lukaku, does that open the door for Lazio striker Ciro Immobile to win his fourth Serie A Golden Boot?
You bet it does!
The Azzurri striker has taken the lead at the top of the scoring charts with four goals from his first two games. He bagged his first with a penalty in Lazio’s 3-1 win away to Empoli, and then he followed that up with a first-half hat-trick as Lazio destroyed Spezia 6-1. Lazio were already 4-1 up when Spezia’s Kelvin Amian received his marching orders, but goals from Luis Alberto, Elseid Hysaj and new recruit Felipe Anderson made it a resounding victory.
Late Petagna header gives Napoli second victory
Napoli are fourth favourites to win the Scudetto and with players of the talent of Lorenzo Insigne and Hirving Lozano in their ranks, it could be a good season in Naples. They followed up a 2-0 victory over Venezia with a hard-earned win away to Genoa on Sunday evening.
A long-range effort from Fabian Ruiz put Napoli in charge but they were pegged back by Andrea Cambiaso midway through the second half. It looked like they’d have to settle for a point but an inspired substitution by Luciano Spalletti turned the game. He brought on striker Andrea Petagna on 82 minutes and just two later he popped up to head home the winner.
Meanwhile, third favourites Atalanta slipped up at home to Bologna, playing out a 0-0 draw in a match in which they had 22 shots to four, but only three on target.
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