In Italy they call them the championship killers. They are the teams so ruthless and dominant that they eliminate all their potential rivals for the league title with the clinical, cold-hearted precision of a hired assassin. Juventus have established a bit of reputation in that regard and, if you believe what you have read this summer, they have already choked the life of the Serie A season to come for another year.

 

 

It is easy to see why so many have come to that conclusion. The Bianconeri were already streets ahead of the opposition and they have strengthened their squad for the campaign ahead. In the process, they have also sneaked up on two of their key opponents - Napoli and Roma - and pinched Gonzalo Higuain and Miralem Pjanic with the kind of stealth and cunning which even a Dickensian pickpocket would have to admire. It is hard to escape the feeling that everyone else is playing catch-up while La Vecchia Signora skips off with their most prized possessions.

 

If you combine that with a lacklustre transfer campaign from much of the rest of Italy's top flight and it is understandable why so many people believe six-in-a-row for the Turin giants is a foregone conclusion. You certainly won't find many bookmakers - generally experts in such matters - giving you long odds on Max Allegri's side winning yet another Scudetto come next May.

 

And yet, the contrarian in me says it can't be quite that straightforward, can it? I have lived too long and seen too many champions of the summer transfer window collapse in the cold light of competition. It might be a long shot, but I'm not quite ready to crown Gigi Buffon and company just yet.

 

One reason, I guess, I have already alluded to. Their transfer strategy has looked overwhelmingly impressive - in Italian terms at least - but that doesn't mean it will all work out.  They have shown themselves expert at accommodating new personnel but that is not a guarantee that all their new acquisitions will fit in perfectly. One man’s club legend can be another’s disaster. Just ask Liverpool and Juventus fans of a certain vintage for their views on Ian Rush if you want a stark reminder of that fact.

 

And money, too, does not always talk. Some of the most expensive acquisitions in the history of the game have singularly failed to deliver on their enormous price tag. Gaizka Mendieta was one of the most costly players in the history of the game when he moved from Valencia to Lazio in 2001 but his time at the Stadio Olimpico proved about as memorable as a wet weekend at a British summertime seaside resort. Those with even longer memories will recall how Gianluigi Lentini shot to fame and disappeared just as quickly on the back of his record-breaking move from Torino to Milan. Sometimes these things just don’t work out.

 

Don’t forget, too, just what Juventus have lost in order to make their gains. Nobody spins their transfer window better than the J-team but, nonetheless, they have seen two brilliant young matchwinners like Paul Pogba and Alvaro Morata pack their bags and leave. It might not be a body blow to their prospects but it could, at the very least, take them a little bit of time to adjust. After all, last season they did need a few weeks to get over the departures of Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal and Carlitos Tevez.  

That has to give the rest of the division a glimmer of hope. They owe it to their supporters to up their game and look like they have at least a modest amount of belief that they can upset the Bianconeri’s dominance. New ownership, new managers and revived ambitions at some of Italy’s biggest clubs need to be backed up by a renewed effort to end this impressive run at five-in-a-row.
 

All of this, of course, is probably just an exercise in self-deception or the most futile piece of straw-clutching in the history of the game. The likelihood is that those black-and-white stripes will be holding the trophy aloft again this season and they will leave their rivals trailing in their wake once more – looking, yet again, like a grown-up taking part in some event at a primary school sports day. Still, football has to throw up the odd surprise from time to time, otherwise it would not be worth watching. If Leicester can win the English Premier League then maybe, just maybe, someone can deny Juventus the title this year.


Giancarlo Rinaldi is a Fiorentina-loving writer, Football Italia contributor and author of 20 Great Italian Games. Follow him on twitter @ginkers