The Old Lady Speaks Podcast, Episode 124: Juventus take the Derby d’Italia

Don’t look now, people, but Juventus has won four games in a row, moved up to fifth place because of it and, to top it all off, beaten a direct competitor for the top four over the weekend.

That win over the weekend, Juventus’ 2-0 victory over Inter at the Allianz Stadium, provided something that we haven’t seen much from Max Allegri during his second tenure in Turin — you know, a win over a big side domestically or in Europe. But with the Champions League now out of the picture until (at least) next season, then there’s only one focus for the time being — getting back into the top four in Serie A.

With the win over Inter, Juve has gotten close to doing just that.

And that’s why we’re in a good mood this week. It’s been a while since we’ve had one of those podcast episodes, right? (Then again, beating Inter always does that to the crew.)

On this week’s episode of The Old Lady Speaks Podcast, we discuss:

• Juventus beat Inter, and therefore we’re in a good mood!
• Takeaways from the week that was — including Nicolo Fagioli has arrived and it’s time to be extremely happy about it, we’ve reached the end of the road for Leonardo Bonucci being a regular starter for Juventus (and Sunday’s win over Inter proved that), and Juventus gave us a reminder that Inter are frauds — you better not forget that — while being fun to watch in two straight games.
• Let’s talk about the win over Inter! (And a little bit about the performance midweek against PSG, too, but mostly about the win over Inter.)
• Nicolo Fagioli has taken his chance to suddenly get minutes in the starting lineup and completely run with it. He’s already proving to be a big-time player and a breath of fresh air for a Juventus team — and especially midfield — that needed somebody like him.
• Seriously, Fagioli is really good already!
• Also, Federico Chiesa is back!
• And in his first two appearances since injuring his knee 10 months ago, Chiesa has looked pretty good — and more importantly incredibly lively — in his limited minutes on the field.
• How much did luck and how much did Max Allegri’s adjustments play into Juventus’ win over Inter in the Derby d’Italia?
• A Twitter question-a-palooza! (Everybody was in a good mood after the Inter win.)

You can listen to Episode 124 of The Old Lady Speaks Podcast here:

To our dear listeners: Please look for the latest episode of The Old Lady Speaks to drop every Monday mornings/afternoons (now that Juve are done with Monday night games for a while!) for those of you who live in the United States. (Please adjust your time zone according if you live outside of the U.S.)

If you happen to listen to the Old Lady Speaks on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please subscribe to the show and give us a nice rating and review because it is very nice to see that our podcast is being enjoyed by you all. The more you say nice things about us, the more we will continue to love you forever and ever and ever. We promise.