Disclaimer: I am a Juventus fan.

You can watch the highlights of the match here.

Initial Reactions

The minute the players of Roma walked out onto the pitch on January 9th, 2022, and cameras panned over their determined faces, I was sure it was over. Up front and center, standing in all his 6’3 glory, was the determined face of Tammy Abraham, former Chelsea striker. As an occasional watcher of Chelsea, I knew what he was capable of, and I knew that our unstable side would have to bring their all to match Roma, a somewhat impressionable team in Serie A. To provide an opposing argument, Roma did have a good number of key players missing due to Covid-19 or injuries, and had not had the best track record before this game, having lost their last two games and only winning two of their six home games so far this season. 

The Old Lady (Juventus) had been playing the part of an old lady these last few seasons, disappointing fans with lackluster performances time and time again. However, when the dust cleared after the game on January 9th, Juventus fans were reminded of the life the Old Lady may have left in it just yet. 

With “Cuadrado” on the back of my jersey and “Chiesa” on the back of my mom’s, we sat down to watch the game, completely unaware of what was to come. I was apprehensive to wear a Juve item while watching, since I become very superstitious during Juve games. Every time I’d wear my Juventus hoodie, we’d lose our games. However, this time, my mom assured me, was different, considering we were wearing legitimate jerseys as opposed to my knockoff hoodie. 

The First Half

Let’s break it down: The first half of the match was led by Roma, unabashedly. Tammy Abraham opened the score with a stunning header into the corner of the box, and I opened my water bottle subsequently to stress-drink from. Not in control of the ball, Juve put up a decent fight against Roma’s numerous attacks, specifically center-back Matthijs De Ligt, though he was almost the reason for a penalty when a potential handball was investigated. It was abandoned, though, when the ref ruled it as unintentional on account of it bouncing from his leg to his hand. 

1-0 Roma

The joyous equalizer came in the eighteenth minute, ten minutes after Tammy’s lovely effort. Federico Chiesa, my mother’s most beloved Italian, expertly ran down the left flank and sent a beautiful cross to Paulo Dybala, who sublimely curved it from just outside of the box, expertly finishing a beautiful play. If I hadn’t been looking closely, it would have seemed as if that was prime Dybala shooting from his younger years.

1-1 

However, the Juventus merch curse had begun to set in. Shortly after Chiesa’s assist, it was clear he was not well in his right knee. In the thirty-first minute, after struggling to continue to play, he was subbed out for Dejan Kulusevksi. Juventus had been dealt a real blow, not only in the game, but for the rest of the season, as it was revealed after the game that Chiesa would be out for at least the next six months and would have to undergo surgery on his knee. A few minutes later, Juan Cuadrado (my personal favorite player) was shown a yellow card for a nasty slide, meaning he would now miss the next match, the Italian Supercup final. It was after this that I hurriedly took off my cursed jersey and implored my mother to do the same.

The first half was, in one word, bad, for Juventus. However, by some undeniable stroke of luck (Tammy Abraham accidentally foiling an almost certain goal directly before half-time) and surprisingly solid defending from Rugani and De Sciglio, the score managed to stay a draw. 1-1 isn’t bad, right? Well, unbeknownst to the players and fans, things were about to get real in the second half.

The Second Half

After kick-off, Roma was golden. Two minutes after beginning, a brilliant concave up parabola-shaped shot from Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan brought the home side up one, dipping trickingly over the head of Wojciech Szczesny. 2-1, and things were no longer looking good for Juve. One thing that I noticed throughout the game was Roma’s pressing: these players were sticking to our players like honey, grabbing, sliding, diving, not letting up for a minute. Yellow cards were flying left and right, an important one going to Juve defender Matthjis De Ligt for a challenge in a dangerous free-kick position.

2-1 Roma

The second the free-kick was given, I said to my mom, “watch them score.” She answered with, “100%.” And score they did. With a stunning, direct hit from a few yards outside the box, Roma’s Lorenzo Pellegrini secured a third goal for the home team. Unsurprised silence reigned in my living room. With our weak Old Lady, we knew there would be no going back from the 3-1 spot. This was the type of thing prime Juventus could get out of- not the uncertain one my mom and I still clung to with only dreams and fond memories.

3-1 Roma

All was lost for the Bianconneri, it seemed, as Moisie Kean, main forward, contributed absolutely nothing to the game and Kulusevski seemed about his equivalent. Allegri needed to make some fast changes to the unimpressive lineup. In the sixty-third minute, he subbed in Alvaro Morata for Kean and Artur Melo for Rodrigo Bentancur. And just 7 minutes later, this paid off.

The Most Insane Seven Minutes of the Season

In the 70th minute, the ball went from Artur to Dybala, Dybala to Morata, in which the Spaniard showcased his true skill. Expertly faking out a defender, the second mind-shattering assist of the game was made by Morata, who pitched the ball from just outside the right wing into the center of the box, straight to the awaiting head of key midfielder Manuel Locatelli, who sent the ball spiraling strategically into the left corner past the unawaiting goalkeeper. 3-2 with roughly 20 minutes to go. What a masterful goal.

3-2 Roma

The 71st minute began with a Roma substitution, which came directly before Juve began their attack. Beginning from the back, Artur passed to Locatelli, then Locatelli with a clean pass to Cuadrado straight into the box, who managed to prod the ball to the left with a header, straight to Morata. Morata, not hesitating, pitched the ball forward into the awaiting legs of the Roma defense, who kicked it out into the legs of Dejan Kulusevksi, who, unhesitating, slammed it forward, rebounding off of Roma defender Ibanez to equalize the score in less than three minutes. My mother and I screamed at this moment, not believing our heart-shaped eyes. Could we have a chance, after being down so severely? VAR was not so sure. This goal-checking system began to pick apart the goal more closely, damping our celebrations with confused questions of why. It was said Morata, the offside king, was offside once more. Commentators, fans, and players stood in confusion. I, personally, had not been this worked up about consecutive goals since the Juventus-Porto game in the UCL round of 16 last year. After an excruciating wait, upon review, the goal was given as the equalizer, sending fans roaring and my rapid heart thundering. For non-Juventus watchers, this type of thing hadn’t happened to us in years- 2017, to be exact.

3-3

Finally, in the 77th minute came the most flabbergasting moment of the season so far, in my opinion. Just three minutes after VAR had allowed the last goal, a pass from Morata to the unhesitating American Weston McKennie occurred, who scooped the ball up quickly to try to get to De Sciglio. A rebound from a Roma defender into the almost wide-open box allowed for a clean shot for defender De Sciglio, who skidded the ball into the left corner to complete his second goal ever in Serie A. 

4-3 Juventus

At this moment, it is not an exaggeration to say that the roof blew off of my house, as well as in the stadium, and every other Juventus fan’s dwelling across the world. Jumping up on the couch with a scream as my mother ran towards the TV in disbelief, my dad with wide eyes and his head in his hands, the roars that left our mouths were enough to startle my previously-sleeping cat as the commentator on the television lost his mind. 4-3, our boys were up, with roughly 15 minutes to go, not counting added time. What a game it had turned out to be, and what hope suddenly came to the surface instead of the cold, dead place of disappointment the team had instilled inside of me.

The Tensest 20 Minutes

Down from a two goal deficit, the black and whites seemed to have been possessed with the spirit of our old selves. This was Juventus, working as a team to bring glory to the Bianconeri name. This is what fans had remembered through losses and disappointing draws, what we’d clung to with fervor through every match since our last Scuddetto. But it wasn’t over yet. 

Roma began their attacks once more, setting off towards our goal. It was so tense you could hear a pin drop in my home, praying we wouldn’t concede any more, and the score would stay the same with our astonishing lead. On the eighty-first minute, though, Tammy Abraham slid a shot into Matthijs De Ligt’s arm, and this time, the ref didn’t let the handball go. Booking the star defender once more, the red card was shown, and for the second time this game, we knew for sure who would not be playing in the Supercoppa as this meant disqualification for the next match. It was a clear handball, as both arms were untucked. It just sucked to have to lose, arguably, the most precious defender we had both in this game and the awaited final.

Not only this, though, but, as De Ligt was sent off, Lorenzo Pellegrini lined up against the penalty facing Szczesny. “Watch,” said my dad. “He’s going to take it.” And before our wide eyes, the weak shot from Pellegrini smashed straight into our awaiting keeper’s gloves, rebounding as I groaned at the chance Roma now had to volley the ball into the wide-open net. But, by some stroke of magic (or, as my mom called it, “retribution from God for De Ligt’s red”), Pellegrini slipped on his second shot, sending the ball wide of the goal as Juve players bombarded Szczesny with chest bumps, roars, and hugs. The atmosphere was wild in our adrenaline, and as my family roared along with the players, I could feel the old Juve passion trickle back into our hearts. It was old, familiar, and something I hadn’t felt in a long time. Our trials and tribulations would be worth it one day, we all knew, but for the first time in a long time, I felt as if this team would make it possible.

And so began the last ten minutes with added time of the game. Considering our Russian streaming service was a minute or two behind, my mom and I sat, clutching each other, as I held her hand in one of mine and the score on my phone in the other, refreshing the game to see when it ended in real time. Waiting, and refreshing, and glancing at the score, then at the TV, at the frantic attacks and passionate defending from both sides became my pattern, and my ears ached for the sound of the whistle. In the 96th minute, the seven-goal thriller concluded with a simultaneous roar from Juventus fans.

In Conclusion

I have not seen football as animated as that from the Old Lady in a long, long time, and this game was important because it sparked hope. Fans saw the spirit of the true Bianconeri that day, shining through the four goals, expert defending, and overall unity we hadn’t displayed for a good amount of time. There was passion, there was life, and there was the use of our catchphrase, Fino Alla Fine (to the very end) quite literally. We were Juventus, the monster everyone thought had been tamed, the lion they’d thought had been killed. And though the consequences (Cuadrado and De Ligt being disqualified; Chiesa being injured) came back to haunt us in our 2-1 loss to Inter Milan in the Supercoppa, what was important was that more so than physical, this was a moral win. It showed the fans, sponsors, opponents, and players that there was life in the Old Lady yet, and that the important thing is to fight until the end. Fino Alla Fine! Forza Juve!