Under Luciano Spalletti, Juventus is becoming increasingly solid, but the minimum goal—qualification for the Champions League—is still a long way off. On the contrary: Going into the 23rd matchday of Serie A, the Old Lady is fifth in the table and urgently needs points in Parma.
Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti brought in five fresh players after the 0-0 draw at AS Monaco in the final Champions League game: goalkeeper Di Gregorio rotated back and replaced Perin (bench). Cambiaso, Locatelli, Yildiz, and David also started in place of Koopmeiners, Cabal, Miretti, and Openda.
Under Spalletti, Juventus had recently become more solid, but the minimum goal of qualifying for the Champions League was still far from being achieved. The Old Lady went into the away game in Parma in fifth place in the table and was under pressure to perform.
It was clear that the visitors had come with a plan. Conceicao almost rewarded their lively start, but his shot from a few meters out hit the crossbar (6′). After 15 minutes, however, Juventus took the lead: Conceicao swung in a corner with a lot of pace into the five-meter box. Bremer ran in and headed the ball into the near corner. Juventus were the better team after that and continued to cause problems in the hosts’ half. The reward: a second goal before the break – and it was a cracker: Kalulu drove the ball into the penalty area after a pass from the right and then lifted it over to McKennie. The former Schalke player took the cross directly and fired the ball into the goal with a side kick to make it 2-0 at half-time (37′).
Even an own goal couldn’t stop Juventus
A few minutes into the second half, Parma seemed to have another chance: After a sharp cross, Cambiaso tried to clear the ball just in front of his own goal, but it bounced off his right foot and into his own net to make it 1-2 from the visitors’ point of view (51′).
Anyone who expected the game to turn completely around was disappointed. It took just three minutes for Juventus to strike back. After a free kick, the ball ended up on the crossbar of the visitors’ goal. David reacted quickly and headed the ball to Bremer, who uncompromisingly pushed it over the line with his right foot (54′).
And ten minutes later, any remaining doubts were dispelled: Conceicao aimed for the left corner with a low curling shot. Parma keeper Corvi parried the ball to the side, right in front of David, who tapped it in to make it 4-1 (64′). The Bianconeri remained dominant after that and briefly celebrated what they thought was Openda’s 5-1 goal in stoppage time. However, the former Leipzig player, who had come on as a substitute shortly before, was offside, so the score remained a well-deserved 4-1 for Juventus.
Spalletti’s team climbed to fourth place, but could be knocked out of the Champions League spots again tomorrow by Roma. The Giallorossi are playing in Udine.