The scenes were truly painful.
At the end of 90 minutes, the Italian legend and midfield maestro could not stop the tears from flowing freely down his face. Andrea Pirlo had come that far, but he and his team had fallen just short. The tears were an emotional reaction to the truth that at 35, this was probably his last shot at European glory. For his outstanding contribution to Juventus’ resurgence in the last couple of years, few would disagree that Pirlo deserved one more medal to complete a hat-trick of Champions League wins.
Another truth, however, is that Juventus and their Italian orchestrator need not be ashamed to have lost to this Barcelona side. The current incarnation of the Catalan side under Luis Enrique is unarguably the best since Pep Guardiola’s 2008 treble-winning team. So, to have gone down 3-1 to the brilliance of Neymar, Luis Suarez, man of the match Ivan Rakitic and the unplayable Lionel Messi is nothing to be disappointed about.
Following a rather unfortunate end to his AC Milan reign, not many gave Massimiliano Allegri a chance to succeed the legendary Antonio Conte on the Turin throne. But 11 months after his appointment, Allegri has proved himself a worthy successor despite the vitriol he had to face in the early days.
He has matched Conte’s stroll to the Scudetto, added the Coppa Italia and has taken the Old Lady beyond his predecessor’s ability. All this in his debut season. And there is nothing to say he cannot build on this season’s foundation and make Juventus a real European force once again.
To do this, he needs the backing of the Juventus board.
Juventus have already evolved through the season. Though perceived as defensive and one-dimensional, Juventus displayed an attacking fight against Barcelona that prompted former Bianconeri boss, Giovanni Trappatoni to comment that “There is no denying that some of Barcelona’s technical performers made the difference, but Allegri prepared for the challenge really well.”
Allegri prepared his team well. What this means is that only a little tweak is required to push Juventus up to that technical level on which they were beaten by Barcelona.
This current Juve side is built around the likes of Giorgio Chiellini, Patrice Evra and Leonardo Bonucci in defence, Pirlo, Paul Pogba, Arturo Vidal and Claudio Marchisio in midfield and Carlos Tevez and Alvaro Morata in attack.
The key to future success is to not sell any of the above, especially Pogba and Vidal. Pogba’s future has been the subject of much speculation in recent months. Between him and Vidal, he is the most likely to leave this summer.
But an ambitious Juventus will resist any offers for their prized assets to remain competitive. With Pirlo imminently departing, either Pogba or Vidal will have to assume the midfield general role, leaving the other and Marchisio (or a significant upgrade) to complete a midfield triumvirate.
Pogba has been linked with some of Europe’s better clubs – Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain – but Juventus cannot really afford to let him go now. Selling him for a hefty sum and investing the funds in other areas sounds like good business sense. But how about tying down a player to his best years while he peaks in your team as you aim to fulfil your ambitions?
Juventus have already made a statement by snapping up Palermo’s Paulo Dybala for a reported €32 million. The implication is that Juventus now have a potentially fearsome attack in Tevez, Morata and Dybala. A winger may yet arrive, as has long been speculated while Fernando Llorente will definitely depart after a disappointing time in Italy.
In goal, Buffon continues to impress but Allegri must begin to get an adequate replacement before it is too late. Buffon, like Pirlo, can only play for so long. While the defence may also need some strengthening, Allegri will do no better than retain his star performers against all odds.
That is how Juventus will challenge again next season, and not begin to rebuild.