Juventus are poised to reach the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time in four seasons but their erratic strikers could undermine their chances of launching a serious bid for the title.
Although their 3-0 win over Chelsea on Tuesday was ultimately emphatic, Juve’s final pass was rarely up to the superb approach work of an Andrea Pirlo-inspired midfield.
Both Fabio Quagliarella and Mirko Vucinic were good at pulling their markers wide but were also guilty of squandering numerous openings.
Vucinic had Juventus fans howling in frustration early in the second half when he shot wildly over from a position where he had no realistic chance of scoring.
Quagliarella, who scored a fortuitous opening goal against Chelsea, was also guilty of trying to score from a narrow angle instead of passing to the better-placed Stephan Lichtsteiner.
All of those chances came with Juventus 1-0 ahead and the Italian champions, whose win is a huge boost for an increasingly discredited Serie A, may well have been punished for their profligacy against more incisive opponents.
Juventus have been trying to get their hands on a world class forward for some time and were in the race for Sergio Aguero before the Argentine opted to join Manchester City just over one year ago.
Instead, they signed Vucinic for €15 million from Roma and he has often exasperated supporters by going it alone.
Sebastian Giovinco, who scored the third goal on Tuesday night, has also performed in fits and starts since his move from Parma in the close season.
Alessandro Matri has struggled for form this season and Simone Pepe has been absent through injury while Danish forward Niklas Bendtner, signed from Arsenal, has barely played.
Amid all that, coach Antonio Conte has chopped and changed his two-man strikeforce, something which Quagliarella claimed has hindered all the forwards.
“It is never easy for strikers to deal with this rotation, but the coach has been clear with us and said he will rotate all five forwards,” he told reporters.
“It can happen that a forward plays three games in a row, then goes on the bench.
“We are aware of the situation and therefore relaxed.”