Few teams can challenge Juve’s supremacy in the Serie A this season.

Sunday’s 1-0 derby victory over Torino saw the Bianconeri restoring a nine-point lead at the top of the standings ahead of Roma (who have a match in hand) and take another step towards a third successive league title.

But it was not Juve’s dominance on the pitch that hit the headlines last week as coach Antonio Conte was embroiled in a war of words with former club mentor Fabio Capello, now head coach of the Russian national team.

The argument ignited when Capello criticised Conte for cancelling his players’ day off as a punishment for letting Verona peg the leaders back from two goals down for a 2-2 draw in an away league match earlier this month.

Capello maintained that Juventus are playing against modest opposition in Serie A this season and for that reason they found it difficult to leave their mark in the Champions League.

Conte, on his part, did not mince his words and told reporters that from Capello’s time at Juventus he only remembers “two titles, not much good football... and then two champion-ships that were also revoked”.

The Capello-Conte feud has its origins back to 2004 at a time when Capello had just replaced Marcello Lippi at the helm of the Bianconeri and Conte was a 35-year-old in the twilight of his career but determined to pursue his playing days.

However, Capello did not see Conte as part of his plans at Juve and the battling midfielder was eventually shown the exit door.

Conte had to be content with the job of assistant coach to Luigi De Canio at Siena.

Last week, former Juve director of sport Luciano Moggi intervened in the spat and said that the Juve side coached by Capello was by far stronger than the one currently managed by Conte.

Moggi, who stepped down from his Juventus post in May 2006 in the wake of his involvement in a match-fixing scandal that rocked the sport in Italy, highlighted that the 2005/06 Juventus squad comprised five players, Gianluigi Buffon, Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluca Zambrotta, Fabio Cannavaro and Mauro Camoranesi, who went on to play a crucial part in Italy’s fourth World Cup success in Germany.

The 2006 World Cup final was against a France team that featured three other Juventus players – Lilian Thuram, Patrick Vieira and David Trezeguet.

Conte may have a point in saying that Capello should have done a lot better in the Champions League following eliminations in the quarter-finals to Liverpool (2005) and Arsenal (2006).

On the other hand, Capello is right in highlighting the fact that Juventus are not facing stiff competition in the Serie A and that is not helping them when playing the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona in the Europe.

Since Conte’s appointment in 2011, Juve’s domestic supremacy has seldom been put to test as the Bianconeri are heads and shoulders above the likes of Roma, Napoli and the rest in Serie A.

However, the same cannot be said of Juve’s showings in the Champions League.

Last year, they were humbled by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals and this season they did not even manage to make it from the group stage which also comprised Real Madrid, Galatasaray and FC Copenhagen.

One, therefore, tends to agree with Moggi’s assessment that the Juve side of 2006 was stronger than Conte’s current squad.

This season, however, Juventus can still break the 2006 record of points if they collect at least 29 points from their remaining 14 games.

Beyond this campaign, Conte’s Juventus have the potential to keep winning domestic titles but they must lift their game on the European front.

So, it is almost crucial for the club to keep hold of their prized assets (Paul Pogba, Carlos Tevez, Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo and Buffon) and, perhaps, add two quality signings who can help them bridge the gap with the top clubs on the continent.

The current Juve side and the one led by Capello are two great teams in their own rights.

However, in my opinion, the Juve teams coached by Marcello Lippi (between 1994 and 1999 and 2001 and 2004) were the ones that really left their mark on all fronts.

Lippi went on to lead Juve to five Serie A titles. He also won the 1996 Champions League and reached three subsequent CL finals (in 1997, 1998 and 2003).

During his time in Turin, Juve also lifted the Coppa Italia (in 1995), the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup (both in 1996).

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