If it wasn’t already patently obvious beforehand,
Juventus really are in crisis now following their 2-1 defeat at
Napoli last night, a result which means they could drop to as low
as 14th in Serie A by the end of today, and also find themselves
seven points behind the league leaders.
Juve have not won in five games, with the last two of these being
defeats. If the Old Lady were to make it a hat-trick of losses
against Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night, then
surely the Juventus management team would have no other option but
to dismiss Claudio Ranieri.
If Juve are somehow able to sneak a win, or a draw, then the
Tinkerman may yet live to tinker for another day. In view of this,
there is no doubt in my mind that every Juventino should transform
into a Real Madrid fan in Turin, in order to ensure that Ranieri is
sacked.
The simple truth of the matter, as I have said on many occasions,
is that Ranieri just is not up to the job at Juventus. Against
Napoli, he made some simply horrific substitutions, once again,
which ultimately cost his side the match. With the game open at
1-1, Ranieri took off one of his two attackers, Alex Del Piero and,
bizarrely, brought on a defender, Paolo De Ceglie. Napoli were
immediately handed the initiative, and it was then inevitable that
they would grab the winner, which they did through Ezequiel
Lavezzi.
Juve will win no major trophies under Ranieri, so it really is in
the best interest of everyone associated with the club that he is
out of the door as soon a possible. A defeat against Real Madrid
would not be the end of the world. The other realistic challenger
for the second spot in Group H, Zenit St Petersburg, are four
points behind Juve, so a loss at the Stadio Olimpico won’t change
all that much, although it would complicate the away trips to both
Madrid and Saint Petersburg.
The worst thing that could happen to Juventus on Tuesday is if they
beat Real Madrid because that would mean Ranieri keeping his job
for a little while longer.
