🇮🇹 Allegri's iron-clad Juventus firmly re-establish themselves | OneFootball

The underperformance of last season at Juventus was never going to be allowed to linger long in the memory or be repeated.

Off-field issues including a board resignation midway through the campaign and expulsion from Europe were worsened by poor showings on the pitch as the Bianconeri toiled to a seventh place finish.

So how have things improved so quickly that they sit just two points off the top with 11 games played this season?

They have largely been helped by coach Massimiliano Allegri perfecting the defensive plan he attempted to implement last season, albeit without the same success.

On Sunday night, they defeated Fiorentina 1-0 courtesy of a lone first senior goal for the club from Fabio Miretti.

That was one of just three shots on target in Florence from the visitors and was the latest piece of evidence of what Allegri is attempting to achieve.

It marked the sixth successive clean sheet their water-fight defence has kept.

Aesthetically, they may not be the most fun side to watch with their stifling, suffocating style of play, but there is no doubting its effectiveness.

Since Allegri returned to the Turin hotseat in 2021, no team has won more games 1-0 than Juventus’ 17, which is three more than any other team in the same time frame.

Their 11 shutouts for the calendar year away from home are also more than any other side in the division, with this being just the third time ever that they have kept five from their first six games on the road to start the season.

It is quite simply what they do now and they do it so well: getting the advantage in a game through one of the few chances they create and holding onto it without taking any real risks or worries.

While it is winning points for the Old Lady, it isn’t winning many hearts, particularly among neutrals.

“For those who want to watch good football, you would be better going to the circus,” read one post-game headline after their latest victory.

Understandably, none of that concerned the man in charge much when it was put to him that the old cynicism has very much returned to his side.

“These kind of games are difficult to win. We need to improve and we missed a couple of opportunities where things opened up for us,” Allegri explained when speaking to the assembled media.

“If you break through Fiorentina’s first line of pressure, you can find large spaces to exploit. But what we are doing is keeping a low profile.

“We have to make sure of the top four one step at a time.”

The bar may seem a little low in terms of those public aims, particularly when Juventus are enjoying their best start to a season after 11 games since their last Scudetto win in 2019.

They are just two points off the top, have beaten both Milan and Lazio (who are Champions League sides this season), and conceded just four goals across their fixtures so far.

And yet for all of that, Allegri continues downplaying expectations – outside of Vinovo at least.

“Don’t misunderstand things in relation to the Scudetto,” he added.

“Inter, Milan and Napoli are all better equipped than us. They are further along with their team building than we are.

“We’re starting again with younger players with the right attitude and doing it in different ways: with technique against Verona, differently today. Matches are won with pain and being excellent defensively.”

That they have been. All evidence so far suggests they will very much be in the title shake-up, particularly without the distraction of Europe that could hinder their rivals.

The biggest indication yet of their standing may come at the end of November when they welcome table-toppers Inter in the Derby d’Italia.

Get the calendars marked now.