What Is the Reason for the Bad Moment of Liverpool and Juventus?

Many football fans will know that Juventus Turin and Liverpool have many aspects in common: their history, their great players, huge fans and local and European titles. However, today they also share that they are going through a bad sporting moment.

Liverpool, from Fighting Champions to Crisis

On the one hand, Liverpool, after reaching the Champions League final that they lost against Real Madrid and finishing second in the premiership, today have 10 points in 8 games played. Those from Anfield are 14 points behind the leader, Arsenal, with 9 games played. In the Champions League, for now, this team is qualifying for the round of 16, second in its group, but the cost of its squad and its recent past placed it as the top favorite, above Napoli.

Sadio Mané's departure from the red team to Bayern Munich turned out to be more decisive than Jürgen Klopp had estimated. The arrival of Uruguayan striker Darwin Núñez from Benfica for 75 million euros (plus 25 in variables) has not turned out to be so fruitful. The Uruguayan has not finished acclimating to the premiership, and more solid teams like Arsenal and Manchester City have already taken an advantage that will be difficult to balance.

Likewise, the bad moment of its superstar, the Egyptian Mohamed Salah, is a clear example of the lack of alternatives on the attacking front. At times, it seems that the only one who tries something new is the Colombian Luis Díaz, but his recent injury will make him lose the rest of the year.

The defense has also shown a low level in their individualities. Van Dijk has not been able to find his ideal partner, neither Matip, nor Konaté, nor Gómez have shown signs of the necessary quality. This has cost the team important points both in the league and in the European Cup.

The German coach in charge of the British, Jürgen Klopp, explained that the tight schedule prior to the World Cup in Qatar, which will be played in a couple of weeks, is the reason he has not been able to correct the team's mistakes. However, time is short and the race to the Premier League title may already be almost defined in January of next year.

Juventus, 8 in Calcio and a Shame in Europe

The "vecchia Signora" has a much more complicated situation. For some time now, Juventus stopped riding the Italian league, to compete for Champions positions in the shadow of Inter and Milan. Today they are 10 points behind the leader Napoli and out of quotas for European tournaments.

However, its main crisis is in the present Champions League. Currently, they are third in their group (with only 3 points), below Benfica and PSG (both with 8). But recent defeat against Israel's Maccabi Haifa (2-0) is the clear sign of the club's lousy present.

The Turin team left behind the years in which it was the only competitor in the Italian league and the most notorious in Europe. At the moment, Juventus even competes to play the Europa League. It seems that the Italian team has not been able to replace key parts that have been decisive in recent years. Figures like Cristiano Ronaldo, Gianluigi Buffon, Paulo Dybala or Giorgio Chiellini.

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It is precisely the absence of a 9 scorer that cost him the 2020-2021 tournament. The page dedicated to Juventus blackwhitereadallover explained that the offense was one of those responsible for the failure. That is why this season, the owners hired Dušan Vlahović. The Serbian has shown why Massimiliano Allegri trusts him, but he can't do it alone.

The Italians have had a traumatic renewal of payroll, with players like Juan Guillermo Cuadrado at 34 years old and the Italian Leonardo Bonucci at 35 who are weighing on their age. This, while European football is getting faster and young legs are needed.

At the same time, teams like Roma, Napoli, Atalanta, Inter and AC Milan have invested better and this has given them better results in the local league. Even the Milan teams today are excited in the Champions League, something that did not happen decades ago.

But the problems are not only on the field. According to various media, the owner of the team, Andrea Agnelli, will meet with the other shareholders to communicate the deficit of 254 million euros that the club maintains. With a winter market in sight, they will most likely have to invest to improve their performance in the remainder of the year and not leave their qualification for international tournaments in 2022-2023 to chance.