In Antonio Conte’s return to his previous club, Juventus and Napoli drew 0-0 on Saturday, with both teams expected to challenge for the Serie A title.
Juventus maintained their unblemished start under new coach Thiago Motta in a closely contested, if not exhilarating, match at Turin’s Allianz Stadium.
Juve are yet to surrender in Serie A this season, but their third consecutive league draw lost them the top spot, which is presently held by local rivals Torino after a 3-2 win at Verona on Friday.
Torino leads the table by one point above Udinese, who face Roma on Sunday, and third-placed Napoli, with Juve another point back in fourth. “Without goals, it’s impossible to win games,” stated a forthright Weston McKennie.
Motta startled many by replacing Timothy Weah with Dusan Vlahovic at halftime, with the Serbian attacker being removed solely for tactical reasons.
Vlahovic has failed to score in five of his six appearances for Juventus this season, and he only touched the ball six times in the first half, in another dismal performance.
“It’s not like he comes to the game and says, ‘I won’t score today’,” added McKennie.
“We have to keep his head up, remind him he’s an important player for us, and the goals will come eventually.”
Conte, a 16-year Juve player and coach who won eight Serie A titles and the 1996 Champions League, had a low-key reception from his old followers. Conte has already returned to Turin as Inter Milan’s coach, but it was during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Stalemate — Conte’s players performed well to stifle the game while also producing the two finest chances either side of half-time, with Michele Di Gregorio making a superb stop from Matteo Politano, who also shot over immediately after the interval.
“I was concerned about the defence tonight, but they were excellent,” Conte told DAZN.
“We were at Juventus, who finished 18 points ahead of us last season and are in the Champions League. I asked the team to continue their good form, and I think they played well.
“We need to be better with the ball in certain areas though. We could have made more of some of the situations we created.”
Before kickoff, fans paid tribute to Toto Schillaci, the former Juventus striker who became a national hero by scoring six goals for Italy in the 1990 World Cup. Schillaci died on Wednesday, aged 59, following a battle with intestinal cancer.
Unfortunately, some Napoli supporters marred the moment of memory by shouting abuses and being whistled at the home fans. Once the contest began, there was minimal goalmouth activity, with the first major chance coming in stoppage time, when Di Gregorio saved Politano’s free-kick as it soared past Romelu Lukaku.
Politano appeared again nine minutes after the break, cutting inside and looping a shot narrowly over the crossbar. That was the final major incident in a match in which both teams were satisfied with a draw rather than risking defeat to a direct opponent so early in the season. Earlier, Venezia recorded their first victory since promotion, defeating Genoa 2-0 at home.
Written by Jennifer Amarachi
