A win at last!

Although Juventus were coming off a victory over Lazio in the Coppa Italia, the squad travelled to Salerno on the back of a three-match winless streak in Serie A. Add a 15-point deduction to the equation, and the result is utter calamity.

So thankfully, the Bianconeri managed to improve their bizarre midtable status and climb to the 10th spot with an away win over Salernitana (exciting times, indeed).

But aside from the 3-0 result, Max Allegri’s men displayed an improved brand of football, dominating their hosts for the vast majority of the match and refusing to rest on their laurels after taking the lead.

So here are our three takeaways from a routine, yet significant victory for the Old Lady at the expense of the Granata.

Vlahovic alla Milik

This season, Dusan Vlahovic’s performances have been a mixed bag. The Serbian has been decisive at times, while cutting a frustrated figure and failing to impact matches. on other occasions failing to impact matches.

But following his return from injury, Allegri promised us an improved version of the bomber, and it seems that the manager was genuine in this regard.

The 23-year-old didn’t only bag a brace, but also linked up brilliantly with his teammates, setting up chances for Federico Chiesa and Angel Di Maria.

So it seems that the striker is finally learning how to prevent himself from getting isolated from the rest of his teammates.

Perhaps he’s learning this craft from his more experienced teammate Arkadiusz Milik who has been finding more success in this department.

Stupendous Fagioli

At the moment, Juventus is blessed with a plethora of young midfielders. Some of them are plying their trade at home, while others are currently out on loan.

But it has to be said that amongst the midfield contingent, Nicolò Fagioli is operating on a whole different level, partially thanks to his superior technique.

After replacing his injured teammate Fabio Miretti, the 21-year-old instantly made his presence felt with some effortless plays, before stealing the ball and providing a clever assist for Vlahovic.

At the moment, Manuel Locatelli and Adrien Rabiot are the automatic starters in Allegri’s court, but one would argue that Fagioli is deserving of a similar treatment at the very least.

Regretting McKennie Already?

Well, Fagioli shouldn’t be worried about playing time in the coming weeks, because at the moment, Allegri only has three central midfielders in his senior squad – vying for three positions.

By the end of the summer transfer market, the management was hustling to trim the overpacked squad, offloading midfielders left and right on deadline day (Arthur, Zakaria, Rovella).

Furthermore, Weston McKennie’s January departure left the club with six midfielders, which isn’t a terribly small pack in hindsight, nonetheless, it includes the perennially-injured Paul Pogba as well as the disappointing Leandro Paredes (who’s also unavailable at the moment).

Now thankfully Miretti’s injury isn’t as devastating as first appeared, but it still leaves us with a depleted department and some question marks regarding our January transfer plans.