Opinion: Three major questions ahead of Juve’s first match of the season | OneFootball

With less than 24 hours separating us from the Old Lady’s maiden official match of the season, the club’s general status remains shrouded with mystery.

The management conducted a host of dealings throughout the course of the summer and is still working on bolstering the ranks. Yet, we still find ourselves with more questions than answers.

How will Juventus perform against Sassuolo and beyond is anyone’s guess at this point. So let’s highlight the three major unknowns that the Bianconeri’s fate could rest upon.

Strong Enough?

As we mentioned above, great many things have changed within the squad since the team took the pitch at the Artemio Franchi on the final matchday day of the previous campaign.

The likes of Paulo Dybala, Giorgio Chiellini, Matthijs de Ligt and Alvaro Morata are gone, and in came Angel Di Maria, Gleison Bremer, Filip Kostic and the currently-injured Paul Pogba.

So the main question remains whether or not the new arrivals will be able to improve the team in general despite the significant departures.

Physically Ready?

While the majority of our domestic rivals opted for a less adventurous pre-season, Juventus spent a massive chunk of it touring in the United States while engaging in an excessive number of activities on and off the pitch.

Hence, the players looked physically-exhausted upon their return to Turin, and despite being spared another trip to Tel Aviv due to unfortunate circumstances, they were still thrashed by a far more energetic Atletico Madrid side.

Even though the manager and the players promised to display a better version of themselves once the serious action begins, the squad’s physical shape remains a major doubt.

What about Max?

Despite everything we mentioned above, the biggest question mark at the moment is arguably the one related to Massimiliano Allegri.

The Livorno native is one of the most successful managers in the club’s history thanks to a memorable first spell, but his second tenure has been anything but celebrated thus far.

The tactician’s touch wasn’t evident at all throughout the previous campaign. Perhaps he managed to add some defensive solidity somewhere during the middle of the campaign, but even that turned out to be temporary.

This season, we need Max to rediscover his tactical shrewdness and his willingness to take risks rather than maintaining a cautious approach.

But if he decides to play the bystander again, then we can expect much of the same in yet another miserable campaign.