Sassuolo have become the 16th team to defeat Juventus at the Stadium. The first club-owned arena in Italy is no longer the fortress it used to be. The Bianconeri had already lost to Empoli at home at the beginning of the season. Fiorentina have been the only club that ransacked it twice.
In the past, the Old Lady had stayed undefeated for nearly two years domestically, from 2013 to 2015. Instead, they have been bested on their own turf seven times in the last year and a half. On top of the two recent faux-pas, also Milan, Benevento, Fiorentina, Barcelona and Roma prevailed in Turin. The Bianconeri had dropped just ten matches in the first eight years after the inauguration, Alfredo Pedullà points out.
Massimiliano Allegri had gotten off to a similarly abysmal start in 2015, La Repubblica indicates. Juventus were lower in the standings but closer to the top in terms of points (11). Moreover, they could count on a significantly better backbone. Paulo Dybala, Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo, and Paul Pogba were the main driving factors behind their comeback that season.
Andrea Pirlo had collected five more points after ten rounds last year. According to Tuttosport, Allegri had sensed that the recent winning streak had lowered the level of concentration of the squad. However, his pleas, including calling the Sassuolo game a “must-win one,” were in vain. Juventus are 13 points behind the League-leading Milan. They have never been so distant from the first position after the first ten Serie A games in their history.