How the mighty has fallen! Unfortunately for Juventus fans, their record-shattering dynasty came to an abrupt ending, as they ended up submitting to the new powerhouse in town, Antonio Conte’s Inter.
First of all, it must be said, that after nine years of dominance, being dethroned must be viewed as a natural occurrence.
A wise man once said that asking why the Roman empire fell would be the wrong question. What we should ask ourselves instead is how did it last for so long.
Therefore, a change in guard at the very top of the Serie A table was bound to take place eventually. Nonetheless, how the Old Lady fell from grace so fast, and is now facing the danger of missing out on a Champions League spot for next season remains a mystery.
Whilst the reasons could be numerous and need an article of their own, we’ll mainly focus on the Nerazzurri’s role in the fall of the Bianconeri, one that is yet to be fully determined – at least not until Saturday.
When Inter and Juventus went head to head for the first time this season, Andrea Pirlo’s side were enjoying their best period of what would soon turn into a doomed campaign.
The defending champions had beaten Milan and Sassuolo, and were ready to reconfirm their domestic dominance with a win over the Beneamata – as they did so many times in the previous campaigns.
Nonetheless, Conte put up a masterplan to completely paralyze his former side, as the 2-0 final score didn’t exactly translate the huge gap between the two teams on that night in January.
Since then, it became obvious for the fans of the black and white that their team – whether the players or the manager – is a far cry from the ones present in the last few seasons.
While Inter kept going from strength to strength, Juventus completely lost the plot, as their season went from bad to worse.
Four months later, the two teams are set to meet once again, and this time, the Beneamata will have the chance to land the final blow for their hated rivals, as another beating would be enough to end their Champions League hopes beyond all doubts.
So will the former champions pull off a great escape and save what’s left of their season, or will the new champions finish what they started by in January?