Juventus
travel
to
face
Bologna
on
Saturday
(December
18)
before
wrapping
up
2021
with
a
home
game
against
Cagliari
on
Tuesday
(December
21).
They
will
resume
with
games
against
Napoli
and
Roma
in
January,
a
testing
opening
to
the
year
for
a
Juventus
side
who
have
spluttered
through
the
season
so
far.
There
were
high
hopes
of
a
Scudetto
tilt
when
Allegri
returned
to
Turin
in
the
close
season
after
the
failed
experiment
of
having
rookie
coach
Andrea
Pirlo
in
charge
of
the
team
last
term.
Rather
than
challenge
for
top
spot,
Juventus
head
into
the
latest
round
of
games
in
seventh
place,
already
12
points
adrift
of
leaders
Inter.
Allegri
won
five
Scudetti
with
Juve
in
his
first
spell
in
charge,
but
there
is
ground
to
make
up
this
time.
Asked
what
light
there
might
be
at
the
end
of
the
tunnel,
Allegri
told
a
news
conference
on
Friday:
“I
see
it,
even
if
at
the
moment
we
are
lagging
behind
in
the
standings.
“We
need
to
work
to
improve.
I
am
very
happy
with
the
choice
I
made.
In
this
squad
there
are
players
with
little
experience
of
winning,
and
it
takes
time
to
train
them.
“I
am
sorry
we
have
fewer
points
than
we
might
have.”
Pointing
to
a
string
of
fixtures
where
Juventus
under-performed
this
season,
he
added:
“We
can’t
only
get
two
points
from
games
with
Verona,
Udinese,
Sassuolo,
Empoli
and
Venezia;
two
out
of
15
is
very
few.”
Loosening
up,
with
eyes
on
#BolognaJuve
????????♂️
pic.twitter.com/8ToqbmuLUA—
JuventusFC
(@juventusfcen)
December
15,
2021
Juventus
are
not
looking
to
buy
their
way
out
of
trouble,
Allegri
insisted.
His
squad
boasts
plenty
of
quality,
including
several
Euro
2020
winners,
and
it
is
about
drawing
the
best
performances
from
the
resources
he
already
has
that
is
occupying
Allegri.
“We
talk
to
the
club
and
evaluate
every
day,
but
the
transfer
market
will
not
solve
the
goal
problem,”
Allegri
said.
“The
squad
is
excellent,
but
we
need
to
improve.”
He
stressed
his
focus
is
not
on
a
top-four
finish
and
Champions
League
football,
but
rather
on
shorter-term
objectives.
“In
January
we
have
to
face
Napoli
and
Roma,
and
they
are
two
important
steps,”
Allegri
added.
“We
must
be
ready.
“We
need
to
understand
our
mistakes
and
improve
also
on
our
goalscoring.
We
must
do
our
best,
and
then
play
the
second
part
of
the
season
in
the
best
possible
way.
We
need
to
work
with
confidence,
we
still
have
21
games
to
improve
our
position.”
Juventus
have
won
their
last
10
Serie
A
games
against
Bologna,
which
bodes
well
for
Saturday.
Indeed,
Bologna’s
last
home
win
over
Juve
in
Serie
A
was
back
in
November
1998.
There
are
signs
of
Juve
sharpening
up,
having
conceded
just
two
goals
in
their
last
six
league
games
and
taken
13
points
from
a
possible
18.
Four
clean
sheets
across
that
stretch
is
as
many
as
they
managed
in
their
previous
29
Serie
A
matches.
Yet
the
goals
are
not
flowing
freely
this
season,
with
Juve
managing
just
23
from
their
opening
17
games,
which
is
their
lowest
tally
at
this
stage
since
1999-2000
(22
goals).
Paulo
Dybala,
their
top
scorer
with
five
Serie
A
goals,
will
miss
the
Bologna
game
after
a
recent
knock.
The
last
time
Juventus
had
a
leading
scorer
with
five
or
fewer
goals
after
the
first
17
matches
of
a
league
season
was
in
1991-92,
when
Pierluigi
Casiraghi
had
five.
Juve
still
managed
to
finish
as
runners-up
to
Milan
in
that
campaign.
Aaron
Ramsey
is
another
confirmed
absentee,
while
Dejan
Kulusevski
could
feature
but
Allegri
said
the
winger
“doesn’t
have
90
minutes
in
his
legs”
after
surgery
to
resolve
a
sinusitis
problem
that
affected
his
ability
to
eat,
meaning
he
has
lost
weight.
Federico
Chiesa
and
Danilo
are
also
sidelined
for
now,
with
question
marks
over
the
availability
of
several
others,
including
Giorgio
Chiellini
and
Manuel
Locatelli.
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