Spezia vs Juventus: Will the Bianconeri finally win first match?
Juventus will be desperately seeing a result when they travel to face Spezia on Wednesday evening. Despite seemingly managing a turnaround with their 3-0 win over Swedish minnows Malmo in the Champions League, the Bianconeri were unable to hold onto a narrow 1-0 lead against Milan and ended up having to settle for a point. That means that Massimiliano Allegri’s men are still searching for that seemingly elusive first win in Serie A, and will need to turn things around if they want to avoid setting a rather unpleasant record.
Indeed, it’s been sixty years since Juventus failed to win their first four games, but La Vecchia Signora may be given a bit of respite. Or will they? Their upcoming opponents Spezia are no strangers to pulling off upsets. Last season they did beat AC Milan for the first time in their history, and now in their sophomore campaign in the top flight, the Aquilotti will be hoping to improve by leaps and bounds this time around. Now under the tutelage of former Barcelona and Inter midfielder Thiago Motta – himself looking for redemption after being sacked by Genoa a while back – Spezia have had some teething problems adjusting to life without Vincenzo Italiano, who’s moved on to coach Fiorentina.
However, unlike Juventus, Wednesday’s hosts have won a game this season. They ended their three match winless streak with a hard fought 2-1 win over fellow minnows Venezia, and will hope to stage an unlikely upset. Last season saw Spezia concede nine goals in their meetings with Juventus, but given that La Vecchia Signora seem to struggle to keep clean sheets lately, Spezia certainly will be really fancying their (somewhat unlikely) chances here.
Indeed, their defensive struggles have really cost Juventus dearly, with shot-stopper Wojciech Szczesny being under fire for his disappointing showings in between the posts. That being said, the struggling Turin giants have been given a major boost with the return of “both” Federicos, that is, Federico Chiesa and Federico Bernardeschi, both of whom arrived from Fiorentina last season and the season prior respectively, recovering from their injuries and should be fit in time for this match.
Will this be the turning point Juventus need to kick start their season? As things stand, they sit in 18th spot, actually two points and six places behind Spezia, whose four points have helped them rise into 12th place.
Or will Allegri and his men make history for all the wrong reasons in what would be an absolute devastating blow for the team who’ve won more Scudetti titles than any other team in Italian history?
