Page 4 - Juventus

By Matthew Amalfitano.

The transfer window is almost upon us and Italian clubs are already on hot pursuit of talented players to reinforce their respective squads for the second half of the season. After slow starts, Napoli and Juventus find themselves within the first four places. Leaders Inter and Fiorentina have perhaps been the most surprising of the top teams while Roma and Milan round out the top six.

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Here's an overview of what areas clubs should invest in during the January transfer window:

Inter

Roberto Mancini arrived in November of last year to replace Walter Mazzarri and quickly began to form the squad of his liking in the subsequent transfer window. Further additions were introduced

For the first part of the 2015/16 Serie A season, it seemed as if Juventus' reign at the zenith of Italian soccer was about to come to an end. The Zebras entered the season as just about the surest bets in the world: not only were they carrying four consecutive Serie A titles (and going for a fifth), but they were also the reigning holders of the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italia, and were fresh off a runner-up finish in the UEFA Champions League.

And yet, when Juventus kicked off their 2015/16 campaign, they didn't look like the decorated football club they are. Week one brought a 0-1 loss against Udinese-and at home, no less. Week two and week three were hardly better, bringing a loss against Roma and a draw with Chievo, respectively. The Zebras finally won a game roughly a month into the season, winning 2-0 at Genoa. But subsequent losses

By Matthew Amalfitano.

The big theme over the past few years in the peninsula has been the desire for Italy to regain their fourth Champions League spot back, having lost it after the 2011/2012 season.

A substantial reason in how Germany overtook Italy in UEFA's coefficient ranking system stem from a large lack of concern towards Europe's second premiere club competition, the Europa League. Italian clubs saw the competition simply as a waste of resources given the previous winners of the competition did not receive a direct place in the Champions League group stage. Thus, coaches often fielded weaker sides to keep their squad fresh and avoid injury.

This factor coupled with generally mediocre Champions League performances over the past five seasons that have seen just two quarterfinal and one finalist appearance, has aided in the deterioration of the country's ranking, even coming close to being overtaken by France and or Portugal.

Competitive play won't resume in the 2015 2016 UEFA Champions League until well into the New Year, but already, fans are getting excited for the next stage of Europe's most prestigious club football tournament. On Monday, December 14^th, the UEFA announced the draw for the Champions League 2016 round of 16, with the first leg matches to take place on February 16^th, 17^th, 23^rd or 24^th and second leg matches scheduled for early to mid-March. Let's take a look at the match-ups!

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The Games to Watch

Probably the highest profile draw for the round of 16 is the match-up between Bayern Munich and Juventus. Bayern won five of their six group stage fixtures, only dropping one game (against Arsenal). Juventus, meanwhile, have struggled

By Greg Lea.

The first strike was contested, but Paulo Dybala would not be denied second time around. The Argentine played a key part in Juventus' 2-0 victory over Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Friday night the champions' fifth consecutive triumph and their seventh in their last nine Serie A outings provoking Santiago Gentiletti's own goal in the seventh minute before doubling his side's lead just after half an hour.

It was another superb performance from Dybala, who has made a fine start to his Juve career since joining the Bianconeri from Palermo for an initial €32m fee in the summer. Despite making only 10 starts, the 22-year-old has found the back of the net on seven occasions in the Italian top flight so far this term, with his all-round performances also impressing the club's supporters.

Max Allegri's men made a poor start to the domestic campaign, losing their first two matches

Juventus and Chelsea have been two of the biggest stories of the 2015 2016 football season so far, for how they followed remarkable campaigns in 2014 2015 with disappointing starts this fall. However, while Chelsea have only continued to fall further into the hole in England, Juventus have turned things around in Italy. With a 2-0 away victory against Lazio last Friday, the Zebras notched their fifth Serie A victory in a row. They are now the only Serie A team to have won each of their last five games and are rapidly climbing their way back into Serie A title contention.

The Slow Start

To be fair, you could have anticipated Juve's slow start to the 2015 2016 season-and some soccer pundits even did. In 2014 2015, Juventus won their fourth Serie A title in a row and went all the way to the finals of the UEFA Champions League. However, the summer transfer window saw the football club losing three of their most valuable players:

Week five of the UEFA Champions League 2015/16 began to bring the next phase of the competition into clear focus, as 10 of the round of 16 slots are now confirmed. Week six of the group stage, which the UEFA has scheduled for December 8^th and 9^th, will see several on-the-fringe clubs battling for last-minute advancement. For the most part, though, the big title contenders have already secured their round of 16 spots.

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The First Qualifiers

When we last checked in with the Champions League, following week four of competition in early November, three teams-Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Zenit St. Petersburg-had already guaranteed themselves advancement into the next round. Zenit St. Petersburg continues to carry the

It feels like it was just yesterday that each of Europe's football leagues was were playing their first games of the 2015 2016 season. However, we're nearing the end of November, which means that we are just about a month away from the mid-season transfer window. Such football clubs (ahemÂ…Chelsea) need all the help they can get with this winter signing period while at least one other (Barcelona) will be getting back into the market for new players after this past summer's transfer ban. Needless to say, January should make for an exciting month in the soccer world. And so far, Paris Saint Germain forward Ezequiel Lavezzi looks like he will be at the center of it all.

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An Imminent Departure?

Lavezzi is 30 years old and has always been dependably solid as a forward and winger at PSG. Since coming

With a delicate touch, the diminutive magician waves his wand, picking up from the spectacles produced in Sicily last season.

At 22 years old, a silky left foot and deadly shot to match, there does not need to be an explanation as to why Juventus invested €40 million into acquiring Paulo Dybala from Palermo his raw talent was obvious for all to see.

Dybala's match winning goal against AC Milan is just a glimpse of what we've been accustomed to from his collective time in Serie A scoring 13 goals and providing 10 assists last season and what we can expect from the Argentinean for years to come in black and white.

Although it was understood Massimiliano Allegri wanted to patiently introduce the forward as he did with Alvaro Morata last term to which that move could be called a great success the former Milan coach had no choice but to include him in the starting XI due to Morata's and Mario Mandzukic's absences through injury, thus totaling the most minutes out of the

Serie A 2015/16 week 12 saw Fiorentina maintaining their top slot, Inter Milan retaining a strong second-place position, and Juventus continuing their climb up the table, among other things. All of the "major contenders" in Italy won their matches this past weekend, ratcheting up the competitive tension at the top of the table even further. Now, with a break this coming weekend for Euro 2016 play, each of these clubs will have a chance to take a deep breath and reassess their plan of attack for the remainder of the calendar year.

Fiorentina continue to impress in the 2015/16 Serie A. Though they've lost three of their 12 games so far, the Lilies have also won nine-more than any other soccer team in the league. The football club's win this past weekend-a 2-0 away game triumph against Sampdoria-kicked their goal difference up to +15 and served as insurance to protect their leading position.

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