In the space of a few days, Juventus turned from heroes to zeros.
First, they re-opened the Serie A title race with a deserved 2-1 win at home over Inter but then conceded a heavy 1-4 defeat in Turin to Bayern Munich to become the only Italian team to fail to make it to the Champions League KO stages.
To complete a miserable week, on Saturday, Ciro Ferrara's side were soundly beaten by Bari 3-1.
At least, Juve were lucky in that second-placed Milan lost at home to Palermo on Sunday while leaders Inter could not go beyond a 1-1 draw at Atalanta.
The Bianconeri are now six points adrift of Inter but still one shy of Milan in the standings.
Juventus got their act together against Inter to outsmart Jose Mourinho's men. That morale-boosting victory was a perfect antidote for a side that had underperformed in no small way on the continent. But the unthinkable happened as Juve misfired badly against Bayern who went on to join Bordeaux in the next round.
Against Bayern, Juve had the game in the palm of their hand as they took a 19th-minute lead through David Trezeguet but the Germans never wilted under the pressure and eventually went on to hammer four past the hapless Gianluigi Buffon.
Bayern's win was instrumental as German teams have now edged closer to Italian clubs in the UEFA co-efficient list. The Serie A is now risking its fourth Champions League berth to the Bundesliga.
In the Champions League, Juve were a team without ideas. A similar colourless performance was put on show last weekend against Bari. In this game, the Bianconeri simply could not find their feet whereas their modest opponents were firing on all cylinders and deservedly claimed all points at stake.
But, what is really happening to Juventus?
For sure, no one is to exempt from blames. Ferrara, his players, the new arrivals - particularly Felipe Melo and Diego - and the management all have to burden a share of responsibility for an inconsistent run at home and abroad.
Juventus will now play in the newly-formed Europa League but this competition is considered secondary and not as competitive as the Champions League. Besides, in the summer, Juve had spent big to assemble a strong squad for Europe.
Juventus were never really the same team after the one-all draw with Bologna in Turin on the sixth day of the season.
And the 2-3 reverse to Napoli summarised the highs and lows of their campaign so far. Juve were leading 2-0 up to the 54th minute, only to concede three Napoli goals in the space of 20 minutes.
Many reckon Juventus are being let down by a shaky defence.
It is almost ironic to state that Ferrara was himself a highly-rated defender in his heydays. And, it is equally worrying that Fabio Grosso, Fabio Cannavaro, Giorgio Chiellini and Nicola Legrottaglie will almost certainly all make the trip to South Africa next year for the World Cup.
Brazilian duo Melo and Diego still have to leave their mark at the Olympic Stadium. For sure, Ferrara's rotation policy has not helped their cause either. With almost half the season gone, Juventus are still in search of a proper tactical identity.
Not everything is lost though. The way forward for Ferrara is more hard work and unity within the dressing room. In the clash against Inter, Juve showed they have enough talent to play at a par with the best teams around.
It simply boils down to putting some flowing displays on a more consistent basis because, after all, titles are won and lost on the course of an entire campaign.
Serie A statistics
0 draws by Fiorentina in their last eight games (three wins and five defeats). Last weekend, the Viola threw away an early lead to go down to Chievo 2-1. For the Verona-based outfit this was their third straight win, following victories over Palermo 1-0 and Livorno 2-0.
1st win for Lazio after a 13-match winless run (seven draws and six defeats) as the Coppa Italia holders edged Genoa 1-0 to ease their relegation worries. This was Genoa's first defeat after their resounding derby win against Sampdoria and a 2-2 draw with Parma. Genoa have not recorded any away wins since beating Bologna 3-1 on the seventh day.
2nd successive home win for back-to-form Siena as Alberto Malesani's side overcame Udinese 2-1 to hand the northeasterners a sixth defeat on the road. Udinese, like Bologna and Catania, are still in search of their first away success of the season.
3 penalties were taken last weekend. Paulo Barreto gave Bari a 2-1 half-time lead against Juventus from the spot. Juve had a golden opportunity to equalise in the same match but Diego's penalty went off-target. Elsewhere, Parma's Nicola Amoruso saw his penalty crashing against the post. Meanwhile, there were five red-carded players - Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli), Giuseppe Mascara (Catania), Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Miguel Britos (Bologna) and Wesley Sneijder (Inter).
4 straight home wins (vs Lazio 2-0, Livorno 1-0, Siena 2-1 and Juventus 3-1) propelled Bari to within sights of the fourth place. Bari's latest victims were none other than Juventus, who succumbed to a second consecutive away defeat, following the 0-2 reverse at Cagliari.
5 points currently separate leaders Inter from nearest pursuers Milan. On Sunday, the Nerazzurri were held to a one-all draw by third-from-bottom Atalanta whereas Milan were surprisingly beaten at home by Palermo - 0-2. This result becomes even more surprising when one considers that Milan were coming from five straight wins and undefeated in their last 10 outings. Palermo entered Sunday's game having lost all their previous three away fixtures... vs Inter 3-5, Bologna 1-3 and Chievo 0-1.
25 goals were scored on the 16th day: 14 from the hosts and the remaining 11 from the visitors. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 408. No fewer than seven players - Jedaias Jeda, Joaquin Larrivey (both Cagliari), Mariano Bogliacino (Napoli), Gaetano D'Agostino (Udinese), Abdel Ghezzal (Siena), Simone Tiribocchi (Atalanta) and Nicola Amoruso (Parma) - came off the bench and found the back of the net. Udinese's Antonio Di Natale is still the top scorer with 11 goals. Inter's Diego Milito is only one goal behind.