Page 3 - Juventus

27th March 2016. By Edward Stratmann.
After impressing for Tunisian club CS Sfaxien, who were managed by former legend of the iconic 1970s Dutch Total Football side, Ruud Krol, when he first joined in 2012, it didn't take long before Didier Ndong had a number of Ligue 1 clubs chasing his signature.

Come the January transfer window of 2015, courtesy of his excellent midfield displays, Bastia and Saint Etienne expressed their interest, but it would be Lorient who won the race for the Gabonese international. Les Merlus had a clear advantage from the outset, however, for Gabon teammate and former Lorient captain, Bruno Ecuele Manga, had encouraged his countryman to join. As it proved, this was vital in stacking the deck in their favour, with Ndong officially sealing his move on January 3, 2015.

Even though he initially struggled to adapt to life in Brittany and needed time to familiarise himself with Lorient's preferred 4-4-2 formation, he's now become a mainstay of

By Greg Lea

Juventus are a club who are used to setting records. In 2011/12, the Bianconeri became the first Italian side to go through a 38-game league campaign unbeaten, while two years later they made history again by smashing through the 100-point barrier as they stormed to yet another Scudetto. Ahead of this weekend's clash with city rivals Torino, they stand on the brink of breaking new ground once more: if Juventus are able to hold out for just four minutes without conceding a goal, they will better the 1993/94 Milan side's run of 929 consecutive minutes without letting in a single strike in Serie A.

The last time evergreen goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was beaten in the Italian top flight was way back on 10 January, when Antonio Cassano found the back of the net in Sampdoria's 2-1 defeat to the champions. 10 successive clean sheets since then have helped Juve claim 28 points from the last 30 on offer to overtake Napoli at the top of the table, with Max Allegri's charges

Right now, Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, and arguably even West Ham United are all battling to clinch one of the English Premier League's top four spots. As in previous years, the top four clubs in the division this season will qualify for the Champions League-with the top three earning entry into the group stage and the fourth-place club heading into the final play-off round.

The race for these four slots is even more intense this year, given the fact that last year's EPL champion-Chelsea FC-has very little chance of qualifying for the Champions League. As such, clubs that haven't traditionally qualified for Europe's most prestigious tournament in the past-Leicester, Tottenham, and West Ham are getting ever close to breaking the cycle in 2016.

But what if England didn't get four spots in the Champions League? Recent rumors have suggested that the Premier League could, at some point in the not-too-distant future, be

Will the Valentine's Day match-up between Juventus and Napoli go down as the most influential game of the 2015/16 Serie A season? That possibility certainly seems like a strong one following Juve's down-to-the-wire 1-0 victory. The victory puts the Zebras back at the top of the 2015/16 Serie A, and could prove to be the game that ultimately wins the football club a fifth straight title in the Italian top-flight. Or, it could just be the beginning of a highly competitive and ultra-exciting battle between two teams that are currently at the top of their game. Only time will tell.

Official Juventus Jerseys Store

Juve's Remarkable Comeback

Even if Juventus haven't clinched the Serie A title just yet-and they haven't,

On Thursday, January 28^th, Gianluigi Buffon turned 38. Even by the standards of goalkeepers-who typically have longer careers than other footballers-the Italian legend is reaching the twilight years of his professional career. Not too surprisingly, then, the week of Buffon's birthday also brought the news that the Juventus captain's retirement is imminent-if still a few years away. "If I can push myself up to the 2018 World Cup then I'll go on," Buffon told reporters. After the World Cup, he plans to "close the door and stop playing football."

An Italian Legend

Of course, the 2018 World Cup is still two years away, and there is no guarantee that Buffon-who will be 40 when the event rolls around-will be chosen as part of Italy's squad. With that said, Gianluigi is currently the captain of the Italy team and the most-capped player in national team history. He's recorded 154 appearances for Italy since

When was the last time this many major, league-winning managers were in the market for new jobs? Between Chelsea's December sacking of Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola's decision to leave Bayern Munich for Manchester City at the end of the season, there is a lot of upheaval going on in the top-flight coaching markets right now.

Unsurprisingly, all of that upheaval is leading to some pretty big rumors about where various big-name coaches are going to end up in 2015/16. Guardiola has already been appointed at Man City, and Carlo Ancelotti has taken over Guardiola's old Bayern Munich job. But the Guardiola move displaced Manuel Pellegrini, Jose Mourinho is still in the market for a new job, and Louis van Gaal could be on the lookout soon, as well.

Official Juventus Shirts Store

Allegri's Exodus

There may be a few other kit manufacturers on the battlefield-like Puma or the newly involved New Balance-but for the most part, Adidas and Nike are the rulers of the football kit market. Ahead of the 2015/16 season, these two sporting gear companies held nine of the 11 most valuable kit manufacturing contracts in all of soccer. Judging just on contract price, Adidas was winning the battle at the start of the season, holding all four of the most valuable kit deals (Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, and Real Madrid). Nike's top soccer properties, meanwhile-Barcelona, Manchester City, and Paris Saint Germain-aren't quite as high-grossing, since those deals were all signed two or more years ago.

But what about aesthetic and performance? Whose jerseys look better this season and whose kits have been worn by the better-performing football clubs? Read on for Soccer Box's rundown of who made the better football kits for the 2015/16 campaign.

There was a month or two earlier this season where it looked like Juventus might stumble in their pursuit of a fifth consecutive Serie A title. Now, after 21 weeks of play in Italy's top-flight football league, the Zebras are just two points off the lead. Furthermore, Juventus have now won 11 Serie A matches in a row, and 13 of their last 14 games across all competitions.

Even last season, when Juve never left the top Serie A spot after taking up residence there in week four, the soccer club never managed an 11-game winning streak. In fact, the last time Juventus was in this kind of undefeated mode was in the middle of the 2013/14 Serie A campaign, when they won 12 games in a row from late October to late January. The Zebras, of course, won that league campaign with a record 102 points-17 points more than their nearest competitors, AS Roma.

In the Spanish La Liga, five points currently separate the top four clubs on the standings table. In the English Premier League, the top-four spread is six points. In the German Bundesliga, it's 17 points. In the French Ligue 1, it's 24. Compare those figure to the Serie A, where just three points separate the top four soccer clubs on the league standings table, and it's clear to see that Italy's top-flight division is the fiercest competition in all of European football this season.

Indeed, fueled by the early season struggles of Juventus and the comeback of Inter Milan, the Italian Serie A has been an unpredictable battle this season. As of the matches played during the weekend of January 9^th, Napoli are leading the way in the league with a tally of 41 points. Juventus and Inter Milan are two points back, with Juve enjoying the advantage thanks to superior goal difference. Fiorentina round out the top four, with a point tally of 38.

By Karl Matchett.

On an eight-game winning streak in Serie A, the reigning title holders and having made up significant ground on the league leaders in the last six weeks, everything is once again looking rosy for Juventus as they prepare for a big second half of the season.

Having started the campaign in atrociously inconsistent form, losing to the likes of Udinese and Sassuolo and taking just five points from their first six games, Juve have since rediscovered their aura of invincibility and have reverted to the 3-5-2 which has previously brought them such success. Though they remain in fourth place in Serie A, the gap to the top is now only three points and the other challengers-Napoli, Fiorentina, Inter Milan-still have such an inconsistency about their results that it's almost certain Juve will go on to win the Scudetto once again.