Juventus Turin, reduced to ten in the 18th minute after the exclusion of Arkadiusz Milik, was held in check at home by poorly ranked Empoli (1-1), Saturday during the 22nd day of the Italian championship. End of series for Juve: the Bianconeri, who had won their previous six matches, fell from a height.
They remain leaders with two points ahead of Inter, but can be dislodged from first place on Sunday evening in the event of success for the Milanese on the field of Fiorentina (5th). More worrying for their fans, they missed the opportunity to take off before next weekend’s clash at San Siro against Inter.
Without Adrien Rabiot or Federico Chiesa, spared for the second consecutive match, Massilimiano Allegri’s men were manhandled in the first period by Empoli who twice came up against Wojciech Szczesny. The exclusion of Milik in the 18th minute, for a violent tackle on Alberto Cerri after having missed his control, admittedly stunned them. Back from the locker room, the Bianconeri put the dots on the i’s thanks to Vlahovic: taking advantage of a ball poorly cleared by the Tuscan defense, the Serbian striker scored in the 50th minute his sixth goal in four league matches played in January !
But just as they seemed to have definitely gained the upper hand, Juve were surprised in the 70th minute by a long shot from Tommaso Baldanzi. Juventus even did well: Empoli could have taken the advantage in the 77th minute on a counter without a save from Timothy Weah. Empoli remains 19th with 17 points, one point from 17th place, synonymous with maintaining.