While we have seen the “new” Juventus under Antonio Conte lose from time to time (not much really), it’s rare to see them collapsing as they did in the 4-2 loss against Fiorentina, which makes Roma the only team still undefeated in the Serie A, not to mention perfect, alone in that manner compared to the rest of Europe.
Poor defending and a losing mentality isn’t something associated with the Juventus of the last couple of years, but it’s hard to describe it any differently as the champions let go of a 2-0 lead after 65 minutes, letting a mistake by the referee, giving Fiorentina a penalty kick that shouldn’t have been, crumble their defense and foundation, helping Giuseppe Rossi score a hat trick and La Viola beat Juventus for only the seventh time in 43 matches against their hated rivals.
Roma? They took care of the other undefeated team on Friday, and are now five points clear at the top of the table after 8 matches with 24 points, while Juventus and Napoli are second and third with 19. Hellas Verona, for those who love them a Cinderella story, are fourth with 16 points.
Heading into a Champions League match against Real Madrid, this loss has to be quite concerning for Juventus, who have conceded 10 league goals this season already and haven’t done much better in the Champions League, drawing twice with Galatasaray and FC Copenhagen, allowing three goals.
If winning against Real Madrid didn’t seem like a must before, not coming away with at least three points from the next two matches against the Spanish giants might kill off their chances of making it into the knockout stage, and cause somewhat of downward spiral effect that will hurt them in the league.
But by looking at Roma, free of any European obligations which seem to be taking their toll on the Italian teams, maybe getting knocked out of Europe isn’t such a terrible thing.