When Juventus arrived at the Stadio Carlo Castellani on Monday evening, they were second in the Serie A standings. By the time they’d taken to the field to warm up, they’d dropped to seventh, their hopes of playing in next season’s Champions League hanging by a thread after being hit with a 10-point penalty for financial irregularities and false accounting in relation to past transfer dealings.
Victory at Empoli would have significantly boosted their chances of finishing in the top four, but they proceeded to collapse, suffering a humiliating 4-1 defeat that was perhaps unsurprising in the circumstances.
Here in Italy, they’re already calling it Juve’s ‘Black Monday’. But what follows now could be more akin to ‘Black Friday’ – a massive sale that could see a number of big names quit the cash-strapped and crisis-hit club this summer in pursuit of Champions League football elsewhere.
