Meet Verona, Juventus' crossroads

TURIN, SUNDAY — The duel against Hellas Verona, Tuesday (4/3/2025) at 02.45 WIB, at the Allianz Arena Stadium, will determine Juventus' journey for the rest of the 2024-2025 season. If they win, "The Old Lady" will reduce the points difference in the top competition. However, a bad result will cause the tifosi to hate Thiago Motta's team even more.

Juve will play the final match of week 27 in the Italian League. Kenan Yildiz and his teammates are preparing to face Verona, knowing that the three teams above them—Inter Milan, Napoli, and Atalanta—failed to secure victories on Saturday (1/3/2025).

Inter and Napoli played to a 1-1 draw at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. Meanwhile, Atalanta was held to a goalless draw by the visiting team, Venezia.

No doubt, Juve has the opportunity to reduce the gap with Inter to six points. This situation will certainly restore the Old Lady's chances of pursuing the scudetto that has left Turin since 2020.

In the competition at the top of the standings, Juve only has a match remaining against Atalanta on March 9. If they can defeat Verona, then the game against "La Dea," Atalanta's nickname, could become an opportunity for Juve to break into the top three for the first time in the second half of this season.

Motta does not want to discuss the position of his team, even the chances of his team winning the scudetto. Instead of discussing the final standings, Motta wants the Juve squad to focus on facing the remaining matches of the season.

"We are focused on winning game by game. We don't want to think too much about what we can achieve at the end of the season," Motta said as reported by Tuttosport, Sunday (2/3/2025).

Although Juve is currently on a positive performance trend in the Italian League with a streak of four consecutive victories, Motta cautioned his players to remain focused in the upcoming games. According to him, Juve's players often fail to maintain consistent performance throughout the full 90 minutes.

That was evident when Juve fell in the Champions League playoffs to PSV Eindhoven. Then, Juve was also eliminated from the Coppa Italia after losing on penalties to mediocre team, Empoli.

"That embarrassing performance often happens. We lack the attitude of being an actual team. The players do not give their all," said Motta, who managed Bologna last season.

Motta added, "However, before criticizing the players, I must also introspect. The situation the club is experiencing is because I failed to make them aware of the importance of playing at a high level of competition."

Fabio Capello, Juve's coach from 2004 to 2006, said Juve's main weakness under Motta was their lack of balance. According to him, Juve also played too passively for a team that had an eye for a dominant possession pattern.

"Juve must take risks and be more unpredictable. Their 13-match draw streak in the league is proof that their style is too predictable," Capello told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The match against Verona will also be a moment for Juve tifosi to express their disappointment with the performance of the players and Motta's leadership this season. Juve has been eliminated from the Champions League and Coppa Italia, so the hope of winning a trophy is only left in the Italian League.

Referring to the current performance, the Old Lady is very difficult - even impossible - to match Inter and Napoli who are able to perform more consistently. In fact, Juve's management only targets this season's squad to close the Italian League by sitting in the top four zone in order to appear in the 2025-2026 Champions League.

The performance was the background for a number of Juve supporters to whistle and cheer the team when facing Verona. The cheers, especially, will be heard when the Old Lady's players control the ball.

"The Juventus supporters' group is tired and saddened by the current development of the team's project. It is time for us to express our disappointment during the match with whistles and cheers," read the official statement from a number of Juve supporters released by TuttoJuve.

"We always avoid such reactions, but your attitude with the historic Juventus jersey is no longer tolerable. Enough is enough. We are venting our disappointment to ignite something inside you; players, coaches and management; to avoid the worst season in 14 years," the statement continued.

For positive results on the field, Capello stressed the importance of Motta's role. Capello said, Motta must be able to ensure that his squad's motivation remains at its highest after the disappointment that occurred during February.

"Big games don't need extra motivation. The real challenge is in the games that look easy, where there is a risk of players underestimating their opponents. For that, the leadership of the coach is very important," said Capello, who won 15 trophies as a coach, including two Scudetti with Juve that were annulled due to the Calciopoli scandal.

Meanwhile, Verona come to Turin in high spirits after returning to winning ways in last week's game against Fiorentina. Previously, Verona suffered defeats to Atalanta and AC Milan.

"We have to play as a team and play with the right mentality to bring home the points," Verona coach Paolo Zanetti was quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport about his team's chances against Juve.