Juventus will dust themselves down for the Serie A title race with Sunday’s visit of Salernitana after a devastating Champions League last-16 exit which left Italy on the fringe of European football with the 2022 World Cup play-offs looming.
Continental disappointment is nothing new for Juve after recent early exits at the hands of Lyon and Porto but the humiliating manner in which they were dumped out 4-1 on aggregate by Villarreal, currently seventh in La Liga, was a huge blow to their and the country’s reputation.
Italy don’t have a single representative in the competition as it enters its most exciting phase and Juve’s exit was perhaps the most embarrassing of the four suffered this season.
A strong start in which Dusan Vlahovic smashed a volley off the bar gave the impression that the pre-match favourites would complete their task after drawing 1-1 in Spain.