Just survive the holidays: Juventus in trouble and Allegri may pay the price Israel today

In 17 days, Juventus will host Maccabi Haifa in the third round of the Champions League, and it is not at all certain that coach Massimiliano Allegri will stand on the lines.

Today (Sunday, 16:00) Juventus will host Monza, the newcomer who locks the table, and if they lose, it is hard to believe that Allegri will survive. 

In his previous tenure, between 2014 and 2019, Allegri led the "Old Lady" to five consecutive championships and two appearances in the Champions League final.

Admiration for him at that time knew no bounds.

Juve fans welcomed his return a year ago.

Allegri was hailed as a savior, after two disappointing seasons, despite the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo in attack.

The Portuguese did score goals in bunches, but the team looked bad and the coaches Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo were unable to control things.

Allegri and Danilo.

Yuva stumbles, photo: AFP

So Allegri is back, but the magic isn't.

Last season's Juve was a mediocre and boring team.

She finished fourth, 10 teams scored more than her, including Sassuolo and Udinese.

In the Champions League, she was eliminated in the round of 16, when Villarreal defeated her 0:3 in Turin.

Ahead of the new season, Juve added no less than nine new players, including big names like Paul Pogba, Angel Di Maria, Andrew Pardes and Arkadiusz Milik.

But so far nothing is working.

On Wednesday, Juve lost 2:1 to Benfica, a second loss in a row in the Champions League, after winning 2:1 against PSG in the opening round.

This is the first time in history that Juventus opens the Champions League with two losses, and it is clear that their chances of qualifying for the round of 16 are slim.

Angel Di Maria.

The magic is not working yet, photo: AFP

In order to stay in the picture, Juve must win the next two games against Maccabi Haifa, in Torino and Sami Ofer, to leave themselves a chance in the last two rounds, against Benfica and PSG.

Allegri was interviewed on the weekend by "Corriere della Sera" and said, among other things: "We need to beat Maccabi Haifa twice, win in Lisbon, and see if it will be enough."

But not only in Europe Juba is disappointing.

In the league, it won only two of its six games and is ranked eighth.

She comes to the match against Monza in a low mood, after four games without a win.

In fact, from the beginning of the season, Juve won only two of their eight games!

The protest against Allegri is gaining momentum and the fans want to see Zinedine Zidane, the team's former star, replace him.

But there is a problem - Allegri's contract, which earns about 7 million net euros per season (13 million gross), will only end in 2025.

When the CEO Maurizio Arivabana was asked by one of the fans after the loss to Benfica, if it was not time to replace Allegri, he replied with a smile: "And who will pay the new coach, you?"

Maccabi Haifa.

She could also be responsible for Allegri's dismissal, photo: Alan Shiver

A simple calculation reveals that firing Allegri will cost Juventus more than 50 million euros, a huge amount that they will have a hard time meeting.

The financial reports will also be published soon and the estimates are that Juve lost about 250 million euros in the 2020-21 season. Failure to qualify for the round of 16 of the Champions will be another severe financial blow to the club.

And if these troubles are not enough, Juba is also going through a severe crisis of injuries.

In the last two months there have been no less than 17 different injuries, and there is severe criticism of the medical staff at the club.

Pogba, Locatelli, Rabiot and Keiza are injured and it will take time for them to return.

Di Maria is just recovering from injury and Mol Benfica comes in as a substitute.

Today, by the way, he should already be in the lineup.

But the Juve fans, who have been used to success for years, are not interested in all this. 

Pogba.

By the time he returns, Juventus may already have changed its face, photo: Reuters

In the same interview, Allegri tried to make an excuse and, among other things, said: "I am very sorry for the situation and ask myself if I have made mistakes. The problem is that, due to the many injuries, what I have now is a virtual Juventus."

Now it only remains to be seen whether Allegri will come to the game against Maccabi Haifa, and who knows, maybe Barak Becher will be the one to "fire" him, as he already did this season to the coaches of Olympiakos, Apollon Limassol and Red Star Belgrade.

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