One result shouldn’t change a season, but Juventus’s victory over reigning European champion Chelsea on Wednesday mattered far more than just three points in their Champions League group. The 1–0 win was about Juventus reasserting itself, regaining some equilibrium and offering, at last, some hope that its second stint under Max Allegri might be somewhere near as successful as his first.
Juve has not been anywhere near its best recently. It took just two points from its opening four games of the Serie A campaign and has since limped to a pair of unconvincing 3–2 victories. The simplistic explanation is to point out that Cristiano Ronaldo has left for Manchester United, and it is of course true that his goals–81 of them over three seasons in the league–helped paper over a lot of cracks.