Juventus

Following the removal of playing legend Andrea Pirlo as coach, Juve have turned to former boss Max Allegri for a reassuring return to normality, after the Turin giants trailed home way off the pace set by their Milanese counterparts.

Having scraped into the Champions League at the death - perhaps the key factor in retaining the services of star man Cristiano Ronaldo - the Bianconeri's supporters will certainly expect more from an under-performing squad during what is set to be an absorbing 2021-22 campaign in Serie A.

With that in mind, Sports Mole now assesses the Old Lady's hopes of regaining the Scudetto they consider to be rightly theirs.

FIXTURES

While August's opening rounds of the new league season see Juventus visit Udinese on the first day then host promoted Empoli, the 36-times Italian champions are set for a far tougher September and October, as they face encounters with most of their biggest rivals.

Back-to-back fixtures against Napoli and Milan are followed soon after by the first Derby della Mole of the season - hopefully with fans back on the terraces of Stadio Olimpico di Torino - as Juventus seek to reassert their dominance over Ivan Juric's new-lookTorino. After taking on their cross-city rivals, they then meet Roma and Inter in successive games during mid-October.

Juve meet Cagliari to close the first half of the season, before returning from the festive break to host a mouthwatering clash with southern foes Napoli on January 6. That precedes games against Roma and Milan, in an action-packed start to the second part of their campaign.

The second - and potentially decisive - Derby d'Italia comes around on April 3, when the Bianconeri host Inter at the Allianz Stadium, ahead of a relatively kinder spell to conclude the Serie A season - with only Lazio likely to be among the top-six challengers from their final seven outings.

A trip to Florence awaits on the last day, as Juventus meet Fiorentina on May 22 - perhaps with the title still on the line.

SUMMER SIGNINGS

In

Weston McKennie (£18.45m, Schalke)

Out

Cristian Romero (£14.4m, Atalanta BC)

Gianluigi Buffon (free, Parma)

Merih Demiral (loan, Atalanta BC)

Gianluca Frabotta (loan, Hellas Verona)

Stefano Gori (loan, Como)

Marko Pjaca (loan, Torino)

Total spent to date: £18.45m

Total received to date: £0m

Net transfer balance: -£18.45m

SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Wojciech Szczesny, Mattia Perin, Carlo Pinsoglio

Defenders: Matthijs de Ligt, Leonardo Bonucci, Daniele Rugani, Radu Dragusin, Giorgio Chiellini, Alex Sandro, Luca Pellegrini, Danilo, Juan Cuadrado, Mattia De Sciglio

Midfielders: Arthur, Rodrigo Bentancur, Adrien Rabiot, Weston McKennie, Aaron Ramsey, Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, Nicolo Fagioli

Forwards: Federico Chiesa, Dejan Kulusevski, Federico Bernardeschi, Paulo Dybala, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alvaro Morata

STRONGEST XI

STAR PLAYER - Cristiano Ronaldo

While his signing in 2018 was cast as the final piece in the jigsaw to fulfil Juve's ambition of conquering Europe, since Cristiano Ronaldo arrived in Turin, things have not quite worked out as either party had planned.

Though 'CR7' continues to lay waste to defences up and down the peninsula with his powerful pinpoint shooting and gravity-defying aerial prowess, his individual achievements have coincided - or perhaps played a part in - a period of decline for the Bianconeri.

Last spring, the Portuguese icon was able to declare himself all-time top scorer in the professional game - surpassing none other than Pele in the process - and even finished Capocannoniere, with 29 league goals, despite absences through injury and illness.

Beating the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Ciro Immobile and young pretender Dusan Vlahovic to the title of Serie A's top goal-getter confirmed that Ronaldo - apparently ageless, but actually now 36 - remains undimmed within the confines of the penalty area, even as he shows signs of decline in other aspects of his game.

Having already reached a century of strikes for a club he joined just three years ago, the former Real Madrid forward picks up a base salary of £28m a year, but will be considered worth every penny by the Juve tifosi if he can finally lead them to the promised land of Champions League glory - plus regain domestic supremacy too.

MANAGER - Massimiliano Allegri

Once the axe finally fell on one of their club legends - whose tenure in the dugout failed to live up to his easy excellence on the pitch - it was inevitable that Juventus would seek out the return of Max Allegri to right the ship.

In the space of several months last year, Andrea Pirlo proved that Allegri's excellent record while in charge at the Allianz Stadium first time around was no formality, having struggled to convince a sceptical public that - like his predecessor Maurizio Sarri - he was the right man at the right time.

Certainly, during his two-year sabbatical it has been confirmed that the former Milan manager was no mere continuity candidate after Antonio Conte's typically turbulent but success-filled reign, and should be lauded in his own right.

Between 2014 and 2019, Allegri won 11 trophies with the all-conquering Bianconeri: five successive Scudetti, four straight Coppa Italia titles, and a pair of Supercoppa Italiana for good measure. Under his watchful eye, Juve also reached two Champions League finals - in 2015 and 2017.

The four-time winner of the prestigious Panchina d'Oro (Golden Bench) was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame in 2018, but will now want to prove he is not yesterday's man, and that his combination of tactical intelligence and calming confidence can once again lift Juventus to the heights they are accustomed to.

LAST SEASON - Fourth

Although somewhat salvaged by a late-season recovery which saw them pip Napoli to the final Champions League qualifying spot and beat Atalanta in the Coppa Italia final, the 2020-21 campaign was one to forget for Juventus.

Though it will forever be remembered as the year in which the club hierarchy attempted to ditch decades of history to take part in an ill-fated European Super League, the Bianconeri will also recall losing their vice-like grip on the Serie A title after nine consecutive Scudetti.

Their reign as champions of Italy immediately looked in doubt with the brave, or perhaps foolish, appointment of the inexperienced Andrea Pirlo as head coach in the summer, and his side never really convinced - suffering some surprising setbacks against lower-ranked teams and slipping off the pace set by the resurgent Milan sides.

Often disjointed, but still able to pick up points seemingly through muscle memory, Juventus ultimately ended up in an unseemly tussle for a top-four finish with Atalanta, Napoli and fast-fading Milan.

That consolation prize was secured only on the final day - with Pirlo already a man doomed to his fate - but the match-winning interventions of young stars Federico Chiesa and Dejan Kulusevski at least offered hope for the future, as Juve lifted their record 14th national cup with victory in Sassuolo.

PREDICTION

While an inability to invest in big names to replenish a squad which failed to hit the mark last term could be seen as a recipe for a repeat of 2020-21, a wise change of management could make all the difference for Juventus this season.

Particularly given the summertime upheaval underway at Inter - the club that finally deposed them as perennial champions in May - surely Max Allegri can marshal the not inconsiderable resources at his disposal to reclaim the title in 2022.

Though all-time great Gianluigi Buffon may have left the scene, all of the other established stars remain - including insatiable Euro 2020 winners Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini - while Dejan Kulusevski and particularly Federico Chiesa lit up the summer's main event with some eye-catching displays.

Undoubtedly, the Milan giants will still threaten, while Atalanta, Napoli and perhaps even Jose Mourinho's Roma are capable of contending, but the Old Lady of Turin has success encoded in her DNA - and the second coming of Allegri could start in the same manner as the first.

VERDICT: Champions