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So guys and gals, what do we know about Juventus?

Styopa

Well-Known Member
Jan 19, 2014
5,136
14,177
They are quite an old team. That line up posted above is an average age of 30.6. And that's not Buffon distorting the figures, the majority of that team, 8 players, are 30 or older.
 

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
8,436
17,403
I see them as a solid not spectacular team. Dybala is really their touch of magic. Bit like us not having Eriksen.Very much in the chelsea style without a hazard.
 

cider spurs

Well-Known Member
Jul 5, 2016
9,399
23,731
They are quite an old team. That line up posted above is an average age of 30.6. And that's not Buffon distorting the figures, the majority of that team, 8 players, are 30 or older.


Makes me wonder if they could cope with a high energy, fit as butchers dog Poch team.

Remembering how quickly Liverpool dropped off the pace around the hour mark.
 

Shadydan

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2012
38,247
104,143
They are quite an old team. That line up posted above is an average age of 30.6. And that's not Buffon distorting the figures, the majority of that team, 8 players, are 30 or older.

Yeah we need to be smart against them because tactically they are very good, mentally I'd say they're one of the best teams in Europe of not the best because they're the kind of team who know how to get the job done even if they're not playing well...sound familiar?
 

alamo

Don't worry be happy
Jun 10, 2004
5,047
7,226
They really do have a link to Notts County:

http://www.soccer365.com/the-story-behind-juventus-iconic-jersey/

THE STORY BEHIND JUVENTUS’ ICONIC JERSEY

"Juventus Football Club is the most successful and most supported team in Italy. ‘La Vecchia Signora (The Old Lady)’ is known by fans and foes alike by their iconic black and white striped jersey but they happened upon this distinctive look by chance with the shirt tracing its roots back to England.

The shirt has been worn by some of the game’s greatest players such as Zinedine Zidane, Alessandro Del Piero, Michel Platini, and Gaetano Scirea on the way to 61 titles including a record 32 Serie A titles, 11 Copa Italia titles, and 2 European Cups. But were in not for the temerity of an English football shirt supplier in the early 20th century, Juventus’ grand and storied history could have been colored very differently.

The team’s identity is so intertwined with their jersey that they have earned the nicknames ‘i bianconeri (the black-and-whites)’ and ‘le zebre (the zebras). But when the club was founded in 1897, the eleven men representing Sport Club Juventus turned out in pink while also wearing black neck ties — a practice which seems completely alien in modern footballing context.

However, they soon found that the pink strips did not stand up to regular washing and the once bright and distinctive coloring had almost completely faded by 1903. This, of course, was before the time when major sports manufacturers would fall over one another to supply and merchandise jerseys for the world’s biggest clubs, let alone offer millions for the privilege.

Tom Gordon Savage, an Englishman playing for Juve at the time, just so happened to work within the textiles industry and explained that manufacturers in England made a superior quality football shirt. Savage was asked if he had a contact back home with whom a batch of replacement pink jerseys could be ordered, and he was more than happy to oblige.

But when the new shirts arrived in Turin, the powers that be at Juventus were shocked, and initially angered, to find that they were striped black and white, not the pink that they had asked for.

It tuned out that Savage’s contact in Nottingham, England, was a devoted Notts County fan and had cheekily decided that the Italians would be better off sporting the same colors as his beloved team.

County had become a force to be reckoned with in their native land after having recently made the switch to black and white stripes from their previous amber and black hooped jerseys; Savage’s supplier evidently believed that his newest customers would benefit similarly from such a change.

Juve’s initial displeasure with their new jersey soon abated, and they came to admire the power and authority which their new colors suggested; the distinctive bars which marked out their game day attire made the Bianconeri an imposing force; they won their first Italian Football Championship — the original incarnation of Serie A — just two years later.

History can often be colored by such twists of fate, by decisions which seem minor and inconsequential at the time but go on to have profound and wide-reaching effects on a group of people. Juventus’ history has very literally been colored by the decision of one man who decided that a team for which he had no affinity — in a whole other country, no less — would not receive their goods as ordered, and should instead be made to unwittingly pay homage to a team they undoubtedly knew little about.

But it’s hard to envisage Juventus making their name in the Italian and European game in anything other than their famous black and white stripes. That’s not to say that they would never have become the powerhouse of world football that they are today were they still wearing pink — although safety regulations would surely have put paid to the black neck ties — but their zebra-like shirt is so intrinsic to Juve’s identity that anything other wouldn’t seem quite right.

Imagine legends such as John Charles, Omar Sivori and Giampiero Boniperti sporting pink as they guided the Old Lady to their 10th and 11th scudetti in the late 1950s, or Scirea marshalling the Bianconeri backline in the ‘70s and ‘80s in anything other than their iconic stripes.

French midfielder Michel Platini won the Ballon d’Or — the yearly award handed to the player voted the best in Europe — 3 times during his 5 seasons in Turin, and would pose for photographs with the golden trophy on the pitch at the Stadio Comunale Vitorio Pozzo in his Juventus kit. The visage of the legendary Les Bleus star striped in the black and white of Juventus, raising his award aloft, is one of the defining images of his stellar playing career. The glittering trophy appeared all the more striking when contrasted with the Bianconeri bars.

Juventus have not forgotten where they came from, however, with alternate strips occasionally used as a respectful nod to their humble pink beginnings.

Just last season, the Serie A champions sported a pink away jersey manufactured by adidas, and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon turned out in pink throughout the 2002/03 championship campaign in which they were once again crowned champions of Italy and came within a whisker of claiming a third European Cup, losing the Champions League final to rivals AC Milan on penalties at Old Trafford.

It may not have been by design, but few would argue that the change from pale, fading pink to the stark black and white of today, has served to augment Juventus’ power and prestige on and off the pitch."
 

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
8,436
17,403
Very poor 1st half there. Created absolutely nothing. Should be 2 down. Really miss dybala.
 

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
8,436
17,403
Not in the game. Free kick 25 yards 0-1 lol so juve worse than united.
 

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
8,436
17,403
Looked their age tonight. We will have loads of the ball. Essential we take our chances thats gone be the difference. I’d bet a fair wager we will have more shots on goal over the 2 legs by quite a wide margin.
 

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
8,436
17,403
Mandy did his hamstring at the end as well. Imagine costa will come in for him. Tbh I think that will make them more balanced. Don’t really see Mandy as a wide player.
 

Lilbaz

Just call me Baz
Apr 1, 2005
41,363
74,893
They really do have a link to Notts County:

http://www.soccer365.com/the-story-behind-juventus-iconic-jersey/

THE STORY BEHIND JUVENTUS’ ICONIC JERSEY

"Juventus Football Club is the most successful and most supported team in Italy. ‘La Vecchia Signora (The Old Lady)’ is known by fans and foes alike by their iconic black and white striped jersey but they happened upon this distinctive look by chance with the shirt tracing its roots back to England.

The shirt has been worn by some of the game’s greatest players such as Zinedine Zidane, Alessandro Del Piero, Michel Platini, and Gaetano Scirea on the way to 61 titles including a record 32 Serie A titles, 11 Copa Italia titles, and 2 European Cups. But were in not for the temerity of an English football shirt supplier in the early 20th century, Juventus’ grand and storied history could have been colored very differently.

The team’s identity is so intertwined with their jersey that they have earned the nicknames ‘i bianconeri (the black-and-whites)’ and ‘le zebre (the zebras). But when the club was founded in 1897, the eleven men representing Sport Club Juventus turned out in pink while also wearing black neck ties — a practice which seems completely alien in modern footballing context.

However, they soon found that the pink strips did not stand up to regular washing and the once bright and distinctive coloring had almost completely faded by 1903. This, of course, was before the time when major sports manufacturers would fall over one another to supply and merchandise jerseys for the world’s biggest clubs, let alone offer millions for the privilege.

Tom Gordon Savage, an Englishman playing for Juve at the time, just so happened to work within the textiles industry and explained that manufacturers in England made a superior quality football shirt. Savage was asked if he had a contact back home with whom a batch of replacement pink jerseys could be ordered, and he was more than happy to oblige.

But when the new shirts arrived in Turin, the powers that be at Juventus were shocked, and initially angered, to find that they were striped black and white, not the pink that they had asked for.

It tuned out that Savage’s contact in Nottingham, England, was a devoted Notts County fan and had cheekily decided that the Italians would be better off sporting the same colors as his beloved team.

County had become a force to be reckoned with in their native land after having recently made the switch to black and white stripes from their previous amber and black hooped jerseys; Savage’s supplier evidently believed that his newest customers would benefit similarly from such a change.

Juve’s initial displeasure with their new jersey soon abated, and they came to admire the power and authority which their new colors suggested; the distinctive bars which marked out their game day attire made the Bianconeri an imposing force; they won their first Italian Football Championship — the original incarnation of Serie A — just two years later.

History can often be colored by such twists of fate, by decisions which seem minor and inconsequential at the time but go on to have profound and wide-reaching effects on a group of people. Juventus’ history has very literally been colored by the decision of one man who decided that a team for which he had no affinity — in a whole other country, no less — would not receive their goods as ordered, and should instead be made to unwittingly pay homage to a team they undoubtedly knew little about.

But it’s hard to envisage Juventus making their name in the Italian and European game in anything other than their famous black and white stripes. That’s not to say that they would never have become the powerhouse of world football that they are today were they still wearing pink — although safety regulations would surely have put paid to the black neck ties — but their zebra-like shirt is so intrinsic to Juve’s identity that anything other wouldn’t seem quite right.

Imagine legends such as John Charles, Omar Sivori and Giampiero Boniperti sporting pink as they guided the Old Lady to their 10th and 11th scudetti in the late 1950s, or Scirea marshalling the Bianconeri backline in the ‘70s and ‘80s in anything other than their iconic stripes.

French midfielder Michel Platini won the Ballon d’Or — the yearly award handed to the player voted the best in Europe — 3 times during his 5 seasons in Turin, and would pose for photographs with the golden trophy on the pitch at the Stadio Comunale Vitorio Pozzo in his Juventus kit. The visage of the legendary Les Bleus star striped in the black and white of Juventus, raising his award aloft, is one of the defining images of his stellar playing career. The glittering trophy appeared all the more striking when contrasted with the Bianconeri bars.

Juventus have not forgotten where they came from, however, with alternate strips occasionally used as a respectful nod to their humble pink beginnings.

Just last season, the Serie A champions sported a pink away jersey manufactured by adidas, and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon turned out in pink throughout the 2002/03 championship campaign in which they were once again crowned champions of Italy and came within a whisker of claiming a third European Cup, losing the Champions League final to rivals AC Milan on penalties at Old Trafford.

It may not have been by design, but few would argue that the change from pale, fading pink to the stark black and white of today, has served to augment Juventus’ power and prestige on and off the pitch."

Why did they call themselves Juventus Football Club then? In english rather than italian? I thought it was because they admired notts county?
 

Everlasting Seconds

Well-Known Member
Jan 9, 2014
14,914
26,616
I had the questionable pleasure of scouting out the opposition during last night's encounter vs. Fiorentina. To sum up, even if the scoreline is quite obvious, Fiorentina did show some ability and approach to the game that will benefit Pochettino, when he analyses how they closed down the attacking outlet for Juventus, kept possession and also conjured up a few chances themselves.

Juventus lined up their best available players, with a couple of notable players out.

First half I thought was well fought by Fiorentina. They were hands down denied a penalty and one shot ended up making a dent in the woodwork. In total, Fiorentina actually conjured up 14 shots on goal, but sadly only a handful was in fact on target. That's the main difference between the two teams. Juventus achieved almost no large chances at all. They totalled 4 shots on goal, 3 of which was in fact on target, and two were converted. No doubt, in the midst of Fiorentina's hard pressure towards the end, Juventus showed off their counter attacking skills and put the nail in the coffin.

Juventus have of late started implementing a clean cut, and I hate to say this but, slick 433 formation. They've moved on from the silly 4231, and have reached a much higher sense of stability. Initially, 433 served to stabilise and bring harmony to the midfield and defence. Now, the change in formation also serves the attacking line-up very well, with 9 goals over the two last matches.

Continuing with the stats, Juventus have only conceded 1 single goal in 16 matches. They are heavy dribblers, fierce in the air, but their passing can be somewhat a limitation to them. Fiorentina did Tottenham a huge favour, by paving the way for how to stop Juventus. Tight organisation and intense fighting can bring this team down. They are not infallible. But we must watch out for counter attacks. I think in fact, we just need to play exactly what Fiorentina tried to do, and I believe we have the players to maybe be able to pull it off.

For me, I would like to see Sissoko sit this one out, simply because I believe Juventus will simply rob him of the ball every time. I'm very much hoping that Wanyama will be fit and ready for this fixture, because players like Vertonghen, Wanyama, Eriksen and Kane are the types Fiorentina didn't have. We do, and over a two-leg fixture, I see some possibility of nicking this if we show the needed desire and concentration.
 

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
8,436
17,403
I definitely think they are vulnerable to the high press. On lots of occasions they panicked and gave the ball away. Tbh I never really saw great counter attack. There’s was one occasion in 2nd half where they had a massive overload and totally messed it up. The 2nd goal was against a now ragged fiorentina back line and higuain Just ran in behind from a long ball. Not sure if costa will start but without him they have little pace or dynamism. We just neeed to stay in the tie 1st leg. Imo we will totally dominate them at Wembley and will just be about chance conversion. I haven’t watched them much this season, but judging on last night I’m mich more confident than I was.
 

Dharmabum

Well-Known Member
Aug 16, 2003
8,274
12,242
They are a solid team who like to control the game, they are hard workers with a talented and balanced squad. They have very strong depth particularly in midfield.

They have Dyabla who is a magical player, but also still inconsistent and can be marked out of a game. Players like Cuadrado and Higuain can also be inconsistent and often get flack from the fans, but their strength in depth somewhat masks the problem
They also have Alex Sandro, who is exceptionally good.

They have an ageing defense, who is not quite the level it was the last few seasons. However, since Benatia has come back into form they look much better. After a patchy start they have started getting solid results, beating rivals Napoli and Roma with only a draw against Inter blotting their copybook.

We can beat them if we hit them with pace, a high press and really get at them, though we need to pick our moments.

Dybala was basially "marked out" of the semi-final back in 2017 vs Barca, which Juve won 3-0 (at home) after Barca had totally dominated play/possession but hardly had any chances. And yet Dybala scored 2 goals!
Juve is the master of deception. They may look out-played and set on defense-only...just to strike you with their deadly counter-attacks - and, once/if they score, they close the door with one of the best defenses around.
 
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coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
8,436
17,403
What I noticed in first 30 mins especially was the big space in CM. They don’t keep a high line like us the defence sits very deep but the front 3 were really pressing in the early part of the game. So that left quite a large space in CM. Which could suit Eriksen and dele I think they will have more space than I’d expected especially in 1st leg.
 

Everlasting Seconds

Well-Known Member
Jan 9, 2014
14,914
26,616
What I noticed in first 30 mins especially was the big space in CM. They don’t keep a high line like us the defence sits very deep but the front 3 were really pressing in the early part of the game. So that left quite a large space in CM. Which could suit Eriksen and dele I think they will have more space than I’d expected especially in 1st leg.
Agreed, I think there can be some merit to us trying to fight the match in the midfield, in which case if Alderweireld can play and we deploy a 352 it could get interesting. I think they played with width, and we need to prepare for that by utilising a flat 5 of wingbacks, and a balanced mixed of steel and creativity in the midfield. I'm not more confident that we will get a good result, but I'm more confident that there actually exists a way to do it.

Dybala was basially "marked out" of the semi-final back in 2017 vs Barca, which Juve won 3-0 (at home) after Barca had totally dominated play/possession but hardly had any chances. And yet Dybala scored 2 goals!
Juve is the master of deception. They may look out-played and set on defense-only...just to strike you with their deadly counter-attacks - and, once/if they score, they close the door with one of the best defenses around.
They do have a fierce defence. It's evident from last night that any team playing Juventus needs a bit of luck early on to snag an early goal.
 

Woodyy

Well-Known Member
Jan 3, 2016
1,402
3,391
So is that their likely team vs. Us?

I’m not underesimating them but that hardly looks unbeatable.
 
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