The worst Juventus in 60 years

Nobody wants to conclude out loud in Turin that the worst league start in 60 years is the result of Cristiano Ronaldo's headlong flight to Manchester United. Or accept that the second parts, in this case the return of Massimiliano Allegri to the Juve bench, were almost never good ideas in football. But the numbers are tremendous after four days. La Vecchia Signora is third to last -in relegation places- and has added only two points. If Napoli beat Udinese tonight, they will be the solo leader and take a 10-point lead from just four games. For much less, three-day parties have been organized in the city of Vesuvius. And also funerals in Turin.

The last time Juve achieved only two points in four straight games was in 1961. And the memory does not bring anything good: the

finished 12th in the standings. Since the season started, they have lost against Napoli and against Empoli. And he has only managed to draw against Udinese and Milan (1-1 this past Sunday). It is true that the previous week they thrashed Malmö in the Champions League 0-3 (goals from Sandro, Dybala and Morata) and the fans allowed themselves to dream that it had all been an accumulation of bad luck. But not even Andrea Pirlo, who lasted a single season and broke a streak of nine

row, had not as bad a start as Allegri's. Many of the explanations, however, are on that computer.

Juventus last year finished fourth and entered the Champions League positions by a miracle thanks to a suicide by Naples at the last minute. The team defended poorly, were unable to create play and lived trapped in a love-hate relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo, who monopolized the joys in attack. This year, beyond the signing for the Locatelli midfield, who has not yet finished adapting, the team is practically the same. With the difference that he is somewhat older, he does not have the Portuguese and lives immersed in a new change of system to which he has yet to adapt. Allegri has not found the formula and acknowledges its flaws. "Too sufficiency ... and I was wrong in the changes," he said at the end of the match against Milan. The problem, however, is in the field.

The forward does not start: only four goals in four games. The inertia of last season's monoculture is still noticeable. Juventus before Ronaldo scored an average of 86 goals per season, and when he arrived it did not exceed 77. The Portuguese scored about 30 goals per season, and the rest settled down. The choral game and the confidence of some forwards evaporated. Federico Chiesa, the great star of the Eurocup (Chelsea came to offer 100 million for him this summer), does not finish taking off. And the progression of Dybala, called to be the reference of the team (and also one of the symbols of Argentina), was interrupted. La Joya has had bad luck: in the national team he found Messi and in Juve, Cristiano. Someone proclaimed them incompatible and one of the two had to sacrifice or adapt. There were no doubts.But this year he still does not appear (Chiellini said that after Ronaldo's Juve this should be the Argentine).

The goal, from the decline and march of Buffon, is in the open. The Polish Szczesny does not give guarantees and some mistakes of his have cost games (despite the fact that this Sunday he saved his team). The defense does not finish curdling either, and Juventus is the team of the five major championships that has conceded the most goals in a row (in the last 18 Serie A matches). Only two other times had he made it worse. He has extraordinary centrals, such as Chiellini and Bonucci (the couple that won the Eurocup) and De Ligt, something touched by the minutes on the bench. But balance and concentration are lacking. The goal against Milan, for example, came from a poorly defended corner.

The only one things are going well this season at Juventus is the one who has been doing the worst so far. Álvaro Morata has scored in the team's last three trips and did it again this Sunday against Milan in a fabulous move of speed and control (the 50th goal in the

jersey

) to take advantage of a good assist from Dybala. Juve, which has already seen three games come back, is now entrusted to time - Allegri says he will take stock in November - and to a player in whom he has had intermittent faith and who also suffered the consequences of the corrosive era Ronaldo. At the moment, as they say in Barça, it is what there is.

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