Eighth game without a win: Juve crisis manifests itself at Lazio

Extensive joy: Toma Basic celebrates his goal against Juve. picture alliance / ZUMAPRESS.com

The wild 4-3 victory against Inter Milan on September 13th had faded more and more recently. Especially since Juventus had suffered two consecutive defeats after five consecutive draws – the bitter 0-2 in Como and the narrow 0-1 defeat in the Champions League at Real Madrid .

Now, at the end of this eighth Serie A matchday , the Romans, who had also started modestly with just eight points, were hoping to turn things around. But Juve coach Igor Tudor, who had long been under pressure and, as announced, had taken more risks and put the two strikers David and Vlahovic together in attack, immediately suffered another blow.

In the 9th minute, Lazio player Basic received the ball centrally in front of the penalty area, took a low shot, and was fortunate that the ball took a decisive deflection to make it 1-0 into the bottom right corner. Juve goalkeeper Peron had no chance of defending.

And coach Maurizio Sarri , who only returned to the Biancocelesti in the summer and who himself previously worked for Juventus (2019 to 2020), was also satisfied with the performance of his players.

Ultimately, the capital city team performed defensively solidly at their home stadium, Olimpico, completely controlling their two target players, David and Vlahovic, and landing a few pinpricks through Isaksen and Guendouzi (32'). Meanwhile, the visitors only managed to score through Cambiaso (21'), David (34'), Vlahovic (39'), and Koopmeiners (45').

At the start of the second 45 minutes, coach Tudor brought on Yildiz, who was initially on the bench due to a lack of fitness. And lo and behold: With the key player on the bench, things suddenly got better, and the Bianconeri were putting on a much stronger show. Despite Juve's sheer dominance, a truly 100% chance didn't materialize, and Vlahovic's shot that hit the crossbar was ruled out for offside (47'). A penalty after contact with Francisco Conceicao was also disallowed after VAR intervention (62'). Yildiz himself was also denied by goalkeeper Provedel (75').

Against a truly passionately defending home side, the struggling record champions simply lacked the cutting edge and ingenuity. Even after Isaksen (79th minute) and substitute Pedro (83rd minute) narrowly missed the chance to make it 2-0, nothing earth-shattering came of it – Vlahovic and Yildiz both missed within seconds of each other (90th+2), Cataldi made a crucial block from Locatelli (90th+3), and Thuram's header wasn't accurate enough (90th+4).

This sealed the third consecutive competitive defeat for the slumping Turin side – who had now gone eight matches without winning and hadn't even scored a goal in four. Juve's busy week continues with a game against Udinese on Wednesday (6:30 p.m.). Lazio faces Pisa away on Thursday (8:45 p.m.).