Juventus’ outlandish hopes of ending the season with their hands on the Champions League trophy may have come crashing down against PSV, but they’ll still be belief that Motta’s side can end the campaign on a high. They’ve been winning more games recently — including four in a row, a record for the Motta era — and are finally beginning to show flashes that the team might have the potential to bring trophies back to the Allianz Stadium.
There’s still plenty to play for this season. Let’s take a look at what may lie in store for Motta’s side in the months ahead.
Top Four Finish On The Cards?
For a while, it seemed as if Juventus’ domestic campaign was at risk of slipping into midtable nothingness. While the team have proven difficult to beat, experiencing only one loss in their first 25 league games, they’ve also drawn more games than they’ve won.
Results have slowly begun to improve, however, and there’s at least hope that Juventus can secure Champions League football for next season.
Anyone who’s paid attention to football betting at Wildz Sports will have noticed that Juventus’ odds of finishing in the top four positions have been steadily improving in recent weeks. If they can use the 1 – 0 victory over rivals Inter Milan as a catalyst to jump start their campaign, ending the season in fourth or higher should be assured.
Thiago Motta has probably accepted that the Scudetto is out of reach this year, but if they can end the season strongly, then that should provide a good springboard to go for the Serie A title next campaign.
Coppa Italia
No one’s going to pretend that winning the Coppa Italia would make this a successful season for Juventus. But in the context of where they are now, it would certainly be better than nothing.
They’ve got a good chance of reaching the final and, if they do, there’s also a fairly good chance that they come up against Inter Milan, who PSV manager Peter Bosz believes could be a tougher team.
At that point, winning the Coppa Italia might just ensure that this season really is one to remember. It’ll also give Motta a trophy in his first campaign, which could set the tone for more success moving forward.
Making Muani’s Move Permanent
A bright point of this season has been the form of loan-signing Randal Kolo Muani, who arrived without much fanfare but has already shown that he’s very much a Juventus player.
Five goals in his first four appearances was enough to convince the board that Muani should be signed on a permanent deal, and there’s already talk that plans to make that happen are in the works.
According to reports, Muani is set to spend next season with Juventus on loan before being bought permanently for around €50 million.
What Next for Juventus?
This season has already marked an improvement on last year, which ended so badly that Allegri was shown the door and Motta was brought in. While it would be incorrect to say that Motta has brought the title-winning spirit back, there are signs that things are moving in the right direction for Juventus.
The Champions League campaign was a disappointment, but in truth, Juventus never looked at home in the new format and even the most starry-eyed fans never truly believed that it was a realistic aspiration.
Yet, while the knockout to PSG ended any hopes that this would be an all-time-great campaign for La Vecchia Signora, not all is lost. If Juventus can continue their good form in the league, add the Coppa Italia, and continue developing as a team, then the season might turn out to be not quite as bad as first feared.
