A fifth consecutive Scudetto for Juventus but this was arguably the sweetest and most satisfying of them all. Questions were asked about whether Massimiliano Allegri had really done an outstanding job in delivering a domestic double and a Champions League final appearance in his first season in charge or if he had simply carried on Antonio Conte's work and inherited a great team. This season would be the acid test as there were several high profile departures in the summer. Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal all headed for pastures new and it looked as though Allegri's new-look side were going to fail calamitously without them. Losing that kind of quality and experience can be challenging for any team. Indeed, Allegri experience a similar situation whilst managing AC Milan who, to this day, have not come anywhere close to replicating the days of Maldini, Pirlo, Seedorf, Gattuso and Inzaghi. A similar heart had been ripped out of this Juventus squad and the early weeks of the season displayed what looked like a team in transition. It all started with a shock opening day defeat at home to Udinese which was followed by another loss at Roma. Home draws against Cheivo and Frosinone also added to a record of just three wins from the opening ten games of the campaign for the Bianconeri who were completely off the pace at the end of October. Then came the turning point on a Halloween evening in Turin when Juan Cuadrado's stoppage-time winner beat local rivals, Torino, and seemed to lift the club mentally. What followed was an incredible and unprecedented run of 25 wins and a draw from their next 26 Serie A matches. Perhaps the most important of those victories came against long time frontrunners for the title, Napoli, when Simone Zaza's late goal settled an extremely tight contest between Italy's top two. The Old Lady wrestled back top spot and refused to relinquish it, storming to the Scudetto with plenty to spare. The Coppa Italia followed, making it a "double double" for Allegri who certainly confirmed his status as a top class manager with the success of his newly constructed team. The Champions League remains the holy grail for the club. They didn't quite reach the same heights of last year by making the final but still produced a strong performance and were on the brink of eliminating Bayern Munich on their own patch in the last sixteen before eventually succumbing. The Bianconeri will be looking to make another strong push for that trophy next season and they certainly have the squad to do it with young players coming to the fore. Paul Pogba seemed to struggle with the pressure of added responsibility in midfield at the start of the season but he grew into the role as the weeks progressed and is now certainly a leader in the team. Paulo Dybala arrived for big money and he more than lived up to the price-tag with an excellent debut season where he finished as top scorer with 19 goals as well as 9 assists. The defence proved to be stellar once again but it was the man behind them who deserves the plaudits this year. Gianluigi Buffon played a captain's role in Juve's revival and showed that he still is one of the best goalkeepers in the world at 38 years of age, breaking a long-standing Serie A record by going 973 minutes without conceding a goal. He shows no signs of slowing down and this Juventus team looks like it can only get better.
