By Rohith Nair
(Reuters) – Juventus may be in turmoil off the pitch but they are slowly clawing their way back into the Serie A title race, which has opened up after leaders Napoli suffered their first defeat of the season this week.
When all eyes were on the World Cup in Qatar, Italian prosecutors were looking into the Italian club over alleged irregularities linked to player transfers and wages, leading to Juve’s board resigning in November.
Chairman Andrea Agnelli’s long reign – during which they won nine straight league titles – came to a sudden end but coach Massimiliano Allegri stayed despite pressure from media and the fans for him to be sacked after a poor start to the season.
The club lost five of their six Champions League matches in the group stage to slip into the Europa league playoffs, where they face Nantes next month, while they were eighth in Serie A after losing to AC Milan in October.
But Wednesday’s 1-0 win at Cremonese, which Allegri described as “another little step”, extended their winning streak to seven games – without conceding a goal – in the league where Juve sit third, seven points off top spot.
The squad was nowhere near full strength as the season resumed after the World Cup break but Allegri could afford a smile when Arkadiusz Milik scored an added-time free kick to seal all three points.
With World Cup winner Angel Di Maria, Dusan Vlahovic, Juan Cuadrado and Paul Pogba set to return from injuries, Allegri is satisfied with Juve’s squad depth despite question marks over how the new board tackles the January transfer window.
“Some important young players have come through and I would say we should be happy. There is work to be done,” Allegri said as Juve look ahead to a home game with eighth-placed Udinese on Saturday.
INTER’S FAVOUR
Napoli became the last team in Europe’s top five leagues to lose a game this season as they fell 1-0 away to Inter Milan, who did their second-placed neighbours AC Milan a favour as the lead at the top was cut to five points.
Napoli’s 11-match streak of victories before the World Cup break had seen them build a sizeable advantage and Luciano Spalletti’s side will have a chance to return to winning ways when they visit relegation-threatened Sampdoria.
“We have to think about training better from now on. The level shown (against Inter) is lower than our potential. We need to find our best form again,” Spalletti said.
Milan sit two points above Juve after 16 games and manager Stefano Pioli knows a slip-up at home to AS Roma in Sunday’s marquee clash could derail their title defence with fourth-placed Inter just three points behind their local rivals.
“There will be eight very important weeks in which we will play a lot in all competitions, from the Scudetto to the Champions League. So we all have to do a great job together,” Pioli said, with Milan facing Tottenham Hotspur in the last 16.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
