Is this the year Juventus get knocked off their Serie A perch?

Juventus appear to be heading towards what would be their first season without winning the Scudetto in nine years.

The Serie A giants were treated to a humbling 2-0 loss to Internazionale on Sunday, which could mark a changing of the guard should I Bianconeri continue to drop points.

Of course, it’s still early days, with just 17 games under their belt so far. But it is certainly a worrying prospect.

New boss Andrea Pirlo was in no mood to placate on the back of the loss and refused to make excuses.

“We got the attitude wrong from the start and when you don’t have the determination to win the duels, it becomes difficult,” he pointed out.

“We just didn’t step onto the pitch, we were timorous, afraid of Inter’s attacking play, so in our minds we only focused on defending and weren’t even very aggressive with that either. We allowed Inter to take the initiative and they become devastating in those circumstances.

“Individual quality can only shine if you first match the opposition in terms of aggression and determination. We didn’t do that and it showed.

“It’s a bad defeat, we could not have played worse than this and it was unexpected, but we have to lift our heads and prepare for Wednesday and the Supercoppa against Napoli.”

The perennial champions are now in fifth place on the Serie A table, seven points behind leaders AC Milan, who are tied on 40 points with Inter after 17 games (Inter have played 18). This could suggest Juve are already out of the title race but, as mentioned above, it’s still early in the season and there’s still plenty of time to catch up.

The defending champs host Bologna next Sunday and are 2/5 to claim three points, with the visitors 6/1, and a draw at 4/1. A number of sportsbook websites have multiple odds for this upcoming game but it’s worth noting that, among the many sportsbooks, Intertops typically offer the best odds on Juventus.

Inter boss Antonio Conte was gracious after recording his first coaching victory against Juve. Conte, who won titles with I Bianconeri, both as a player and a coach, was the one who ushered in the era of success at Juventus. Pirlo, a deep-lying midfielder back then, was pivotal to his success.

Conte won three consecutive league titles as Juve boss but things ended on a fractious note as he would resign before taking up the reins for the Italian national side, subsequently moving to Chelsea. The coach saw immediate success at Stamford Bridge, leading the team to the Premier League title in 2017. But the relationship also broke down there. Now back in Italy, the 51-year-old could be witnessing the end of an era he helped start, yet he has praised the team for bringing in players that should see continued success.

“Eras end if you do not renovate and innovate, but Juve have done very well over the years to maintain a skeleton of the side like Chiellini, Bonucci and Buffon, who give you experience and a sense of belonging,” he said.

“Juventus did a great job by adding Morata, Kulusevski, McKennie and Chiesa this season alone, not to mention Arthur. That means there is a vision, there are people who know what they are doing and see what needs to be done early,” continued the coach.

“It’s incredible that Juve have dominated for nine years and want to dominate for a 10th. I do think the gap remains, but the other clubs are working more than ever to get closer. I have the utmost respect for Juventus, as they fully deserved all these victories.

“This is a start for us, but beating Juventus with such great champions, including Cristiano Ronaldo, should give you the belief that you are on the right track. I had never beaten Juventus in my coaching career. I always got hammered, and deservedly, so this is progress.”

While Conte and Pirlo were instrumental in Juve’s climb to the top, they could be just as prominent in the club’s slide down. Conte’s Inter put a huge dent in Juve’s title hopes on Sunday while Pirlo’s management is hardly as excellent as his former boss’s. The team has looked tactically inept on many an occasion this season, suffering embarrassing draws to teams such as Crotone and Benevento in the run-up to Sunday’s reverse.

The new manager’s experiments have failed to pay off so far and, while, there’s still enough time to force a turn of the winds, that too, is running out.