To anyone casually glancing at the scoreline as time wound at Marassi, seeing Sampdoria 3-0 ahead against Juventus would certainly have been a surprise. Having won six consecutive league titles, this is the kind of fixture that had become routine for the Bianconeri, their usual approach to jump out to an early lead, then sit back and kill the game off.
Able to call upon both a prolific strike force and a resolute defence, Max Allegri and his men had grown accustomed to seeing domestic opponents crumble before their very eyes. Sunday’s hosts had taken just one point from their previous eight meetings with Juve and looked very much of that mould, but as the match unfolded it was clear this time things would be different.
Just as Lazio and Atalanta had before them, Sampdoria tore into the Bianconeri midfield, exposing a weakness that is epitomised by Sami Khedira. Slow, ponderous on the ball and unable to cover those behind him, the German international looked lost as the home side flooded the centre of the pitch. He was not the only guilty party however; Stephan Lichtsteiner was equally out of his depth and Kwadwo Asamoah made crucial mistakes, while Mario Mandžukić, Miralem Pjanić and Federico Bernardeschi all played poorly.
But most significantly, Khedira’s lack of mobility left him and Pjanić outnumbered and overrun, a problem that was further compounded by the rest of Allegri’s team selection. The Coach clearly had one eye on Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Barcelona as he rested Gigi Buffon, Andrea Barzagli and Alex Sandro, decisions which weakened the visitors enough for an impressive Sampdoria to capitalise.
Firstly, it has to be said that – even as Juve mounted a late comeback and made the final scoreline a more palatable 3-2 – the Blucerchiati fully deserved the three points. Coach Marco Giampaolo had his team perfectly prepared to punish their opponents, his game-plan working perfectly as his young, hungry side worked tirelessly to deliver the victory.
But unsurprisingly, the shock result saw the post-match interviews filled with the usual stream of cliched comments. Sampdoria owner Massimo Ferrero likened the win to “overtaking a Ferrari in a FIAT 500” as he spoke to Mediaset Premium, while Giampaolo himself insisted his players would “enjoy the moment without going overboard.”
Clearly angry at what he had witnessed, Allegri lambasted Khedira for appealing for an offside decision instead of defending on the third goal and criticised the team for panicking after falling 1-0 behind. He then went on to insist the result was “an unexpected slap in the face” during his press conference, hoping that it would prompt a positive reaction from his players as they enter a crucial phase of the season.
Allegri quickly received an answer from Giorgio Chiellini. Asked about luck being against them as Samp seemingly scored every time they attacked, the big defender dismissed the notion that some mysterious forces were to blame. “We didn’t get the rub of the green today but it’s a one-off,” he told Sky Italia. “People that cling to excuses are weak, they’re not winners!”
Strong words, but he spoke even more plainly in an interview published by La Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday. “I'm not worried about the Scudetto, there is still time to recover, but now a difficult period begins,” Chiellini told the pink paper’s Fabiana Della Valle. “In the direct clashes we are waiting for, we have to prove on the field that we are still the strongest team.”
Indeed, following Barcelona’s visit to Turin on Tuesday and a meeting with Crotone, Juve take on Inter and Napoli, the two teams above them in the Serie A table. With the way that pair have performed thus far in 2017/18, Allegri cannot afford to make the mistakes he was guilty of against on Sunday.
Yes, Juan Cuadrado, Asamoah and Lichtsteiner are all serviceable players, but fielding all four of them against a team as good as Sampdoria was tantamount to suicide-by-reserves, particularly when also opting to rest Paulo Dybala and Buffon. Similarly, lining up with Asamoah and Mandzukic on the left meant yielding that flank, Sampdoria fully aware there would be very little attacking incision down that side of the pitch and therefore able to focus their attention elsewhere.
Last season, a similarly error-laden defeat to Fiorentina inspired a tactical shift from Allegri and – particularly with Douglas Costa and Bernardeschi itching to play more prominent roles – perhaps a similar switch lies ahead. While it is perhaps reductive to note that Juve pulled two goals back on Sunday after Blaise Matuidi was introduced, the Frenchman has unquestionably been a steadying influence since arriving from Paris Saint-Germain and the team looks much more solid with him in the lineup.
Inter and Napoli will be acutely aware that, as poor as Juve have been in the early months, they remain just four points behind the leaders, a gap that the Old Lady has shown she can erase in the blink of an eye. It will take major improvements, but Allegri and Juventus have been here before.
