Gianluigi Buffon persisted in his skepticism after Juventus's win in Rome. The Old Lady's result in Naples may change his tune. (Photo Credit: Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)
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Instead, for the first 45 minutes they looked confused. The precise tactical identity that had been one of Juventus’s biggest strengths throughout the season was abandoned. Too many changes had been made in one fell swoop and soon after kick off it became apparent they were in trouble.
Pirlo, in particular, had a torrid time. This was his first bad showing in a Juventus shirt. He brought down Ezequiel Lavezzi on the edge of penalty area after quarter of an hour and the referee pointed to the spot. Marek Hamsik scored, but the referee ordered a re-take that he blasted over the bar. Redemption came five minutes later when he nodded in a free-kick to give Napoli the lead.
They doubled their advantage before the break, as a clearance attempted by Pirlo rebounded off Maggio and fell to Goran Pandev. The opportunity was too good to pass up, and Pandev duly obliged, sweeping the ball past Buffon and into the bottom left-hand corner.
Juventus were now up against it. Questions were being asked. How would they react? What were they really made of? Were they about to lie down and take a beating or stand up and fight? All was to be revealed when they came out of the dressing room at half-time.
Estigarribia later lifted the lid on what Conte had said. “Kill or be killed.” And Juventus went for the jugular.
Within three minutes of the re-start, Matri had got one back for his team, chasing down an exquisite through-ball from Arturo Vidal and sliding it past Morgan De Sanctis. When Pandev restored Napoli’s two-goal cushion, trapping a cross from Maggio with his back to goal and hitting it superbly on the turn, Juventus’s heads didn’t go down. They kept fighting.
Conte stuck to his guns. He showed courage in his tactical convictions. Everyone expected wholesale changes after the break, but the 3-5-2 remained in place. With time, Conte knew that Napoli would tire and start to fade. They had to. After all, this was their third game in a week between Champions League and Serie A, and when they did, the fresher Juventus with an extra-man in the midfield zone would be able to take advantage.
Estigarribia became Esti-Garrincha exploiting the space on the left-hand side where he found himself open to prod a shot under De Sanctis. Then, with 11 minutes remaining, Pepe found the equalizer after his mazy run, which looked like it had reached a dead-end, started up again after he got a fortuitous bounce allowing him to curl one into the corner, tying things up at 3-3.
It was a remarkable game as a spectacle but also ultimately for what it told us about Juventus. “In football we always talk about tactics, stats and things like that,” Conte said. “But I want to talk about the mentality of my lads. I am proud of them. It’s not easy not to lose games like these. The team gave a show of force, humility, professionalism and I got important answers from a mental perspective.”
La Gazzetta dello Sport agreed, calling Juventus indestructible. “Conte’s band have sent a message that’s greater in its strength than a victory,” wrote Luigi Garlando, “because if you get the strategy wrong, if you go down by two goals on two occasions against the Man City-killing Napoli, if your defense which has conceded seven goals in 11 games lets in three in one-go, if you are missing Marchisio and Pirlo has his first bad game, if despite all this in the end you escape and survive a 4-3 defeat in a game that was worthy of a film, then it means that in this Juve’s locker there are many technical and mental resources – an infinite spirit.”
Like José Mourinho at Inter, Conte’s greatest contribution to Juventus is intangible. It’s the resolve, the indomitability, the sense that, no matter what the circumstances, they are never beaten. Will Tuesday night’s performance have laid Buffon’s doubts to rest? In all honesty, probably not. Juventus have to face an in-form Cesena this weekend, and while they are at home, they will also be without Pirlo, who is due to serve a ban for picking up too many yellow cards. It’s another challenge, and nothing will be taken for granted.
So for now the ‘S’ word is still off-limits. Make no mistake about it, that’s hard when there’s Pepe within Juventus’s ranks, a player with the nickname Er Chiacchiera – The Chatterbox. But the debate goes on: Is the Old Lady finally back? It certainly looks she is.
