28 December 2017
Barcelona, Crotone, Napoli, Olympiacos, Inter, Bologna, Genoa, Roma.
One game after the next, ever since the goalless draw against Barcelona on 22 November 2017, the Bianconeri have gone eight whole matches without conceding a goal.
That is 731 minutes and over 12 hours without seeing the opposition find the back of the Bianconeri net.
To put this into some context, that is approximately the same amount of time it would take you to drive from London to Berlin or to fly from Milan to Tokyo. In football terms, that is an extremely long time indeed.
HAVEN’T WE SEEN THIS BEFORE?
The Bianconeri have long prided themselves on their defensive strength and have statistically boasted the best backline in Serie A in each of their six straight Scudetto-winning seasons since 2011.
It is these years of #LE6END that we use as the context surrounding the club’s current achievement:
For over the course of these six and a half years, Juventus have only twice gone more than 731 minutes without conceding in all competitions.
The 1,056 minutes (10 whole matches) recorded between 1 May and 27 September 2014 remains the record to beat, not only in the #LE6END timeframe, but in all-time Bianconeri history.
Second on the list? The 879 minutes (nine whole matches) recorded between 17 January and 19 February 2016.
If the Bianconeri keep a clean sheet this Saturday against Verona and do not let in a goal before the 59th minute against Torino on 3 January, they will set a new second-place record, but also a new overall landmark for minutes without conceding within an individual season.
THE TOUGHEST TEST YET?
Not only is this one of the longest shutout streaks in recent history at the club, but it has arguably been the most challenging – by some distance – of the last six and a half years.
The calibre of opposition has certainly been above the average of those overcome in previous seasons.
In the 'top five' shutout streaks recorded since 2011, this is the first time that two Champions League teams feature in the list (Barcelona and Olympiacos).
Meanwhile, in Napoli, Inter and Roma, Massimiliano Allegri’s men have kept at bay the other three teams currently occupying Serie A’s top four positions; in other words, their main Scudetto rivals.
BUFFON & SZCZESNY EXCEL THEMSELVES
Confirmation of the unprecedented difficulty of the Bianconeri’s current shutout streak is provided by the fact that they have faced far more frequent shots on target from the opposition.
During the current run, they are facing an effort on target every 10.44 minutes. Compare that with the average of 13.34 minutes per opposition shot on target across the other four ‘top five’ shutout streaks since 2011.
The common denominator in all of these great achievements down the years is, of course, Gianluigi Buffon, and Juve’s number one has weighed in with three consecutive clean sheets (270 minutes without conceding) this time around.
The captain’s recent injury has seen Wojciech Szczesny gain consistent game time of late and the Polish stopper has been between the sticks for an impressive 461 minutes of Juventus' current streak which, thanks in no small part to the stunning saves made at the weekend against his former club Roma, the Bianconeri will be attempting to extend further this Saturday.
