JUVE

The Old Lady seems a little distant these days. She stares ahead of her without looking at anything in particular. It's clear her mind is elsewhere. Friends say it is still in Cardiff, focused in particular on the second half of the Champions League final.

Three weeks after Juventus' defeat to Real Madrid, the disappointment lingers, it looms as large as the shadow cast by the Mole Antonelliana. It's been hard not to dwell on what happened without a World Cup or a European Championship to look forward to and get lost in.

The tragedy at the fan zone in Piazza San Carlo still hangs over Turin like a dark cloud, and brought back memories of Heysel. Last week, Erika Pioletti died of the injuries she sustained in the crush. She had gone to the square out of love for her boyfriend, Fabio, a big Juventus fan. The club have sent her family their deepest condolences and the flag outside their offices on via Galileo Ferraris flew at half-mast on a day of public mourning.

The mood remains understandably heavy and the process of moving on from that fateful night of June 3 will take time for more reasons than the result alone. The atmosphere around Juventus is not helped by a couple of investigations into the club's affairs. There's the one opened by FIFA regarding the Paul Pogba transfer. Then there's the other by the anti-Mafia commission, which relates to the "Ndrangheta" muscling in on ticket touting at the Juventus Stadium.

The return of Riccardo Agricola as head of J-Medical has also drawn criticism. Formerly Juventus' club doctor, Agricola was banned in 2002 and then acquitted in 2005 when Juventus were on trial for doping. Prosecutors failed to win an appeal against his acquittal in 2007, but only because of the statute of limitations.

J-Medical, it must be said, has an independent structure from the club with its own staff and is a private healthcare facility devised to "benefit professional athletes and private patients alike." Housed in the J Stadium's East Stand, it has been held up since its opening last year as yet another example of Juventus' avant-garde approach. But the choice of Agricola to run the centre is provocative and inopportune to say the least. Juventus may have redesigned their badge, but decisions like these frankly do little for the club's image.

Does the hierarchy seem concerned? Well, if they are, they're not showing it. Embattled, Juventus are not. The attitude is instead one of business as usual. But is it? Whenever Juventus lose there is an eagerness to say they're approaching the end of a cycle. It can be put down to Juventus fatigue. Non-Juventus fans are tired of them winning in Italy. They want to see a new champion. So a bad half against Real Madrid has been blown out of all proportion.

A sixth consecutive Scudetto, a third double in a row and the most convincing Champions League campaign since the mid '90s are all too easily forgotten. As Andrea Agnelli said after the final: "I judge a year" not 45 minutes. And "if these are our problems, just think about all those teams who are in a much much worse state than us."Massimiliano Allegri believes the team can get back to the final. "There's the Bayern model," he said. "They lost two finals [in 2010 and 2012] and won the third [in 2013]."

Unlike at Milan, where he regretted not walking away following his third season, Allegri, who confessed to thinking about leaving Juventus in the hours immediately after the final, extended his deal until 2020, a year longer than expected, because "here I remain convinced, I am very motivated. Otherwise I'd have gone to the seaside, which isn't so bad. And besides, this team can still do a lot." Gianluigi Buffon's Champions League dream is not over. He will retire after next season unless they lift the trophy, in which case he will stick around to play the European Super Cup and Club World Cup.

An analysis of where Juventus went wrong in the final settled on two things. First of all, it felt like Juventus had less depth than two years ago. The squad is deep. But it's deep for a 3-5-2 not the 4-2-3-1 which Allegri switched to in January. Juventus lacked attacking width. The other thing they lacked, at least in Allegri's opinion, is Champions League goals, and the hope is to kill two birds with one stone and sign a couple of goal-scoring wingers: with Douglas Costa and Federico Bernardeschi the first-choice targets, and Keita Balde Diao and Thomas Lemar also under consideration.

Costa is contingent on Alexis Sanchez moving to Bayern and would likely cost €45 million, while Bernardeschi knows the last team on earth that Fiorentina are willing to sell players to is Juventus. The deals are difficult but not impossible. Throwing Juventus a curveball, though, is Dani Alves, who has blindsided Juventus by making it clear he wants to leave. Finding a right-back of a similar level will be expensive, and resources Juventus hoped to dedicate to wingers and a midfielder now likely have to be reallocated.

Given that Juventus have already spent €98m on making the Medhi Benatia and Juan Cuadrado deals permanent, reserving Mattia Caldara and Riccardo Orsolini and signing Patrik Schick and Rodrigo Bentancur, this is quite the inconvenience. As you can imagine Alves' recommendation that Dybala leave Juventus also did not go down well. By abandoning the Old Lady, he has left her in quite a pickle. The one non-EU slot remaining is earmarked for Costa, but the need for a full-back could change things, particularly given how Juventus like Danilo and Fabinho, who could also play in midfield, although Blaise Matuidi and Steven N'Zonzi are the preferences for that position.

Speculation continues about the futures of Alex Sandro and Leonardo Bonucci. Chelsea have already made "a suitable offer" for the former (€60m), which Juventus have rejected. However, if Sandro wishes to leave, it's club policy never to keep a player against their will. Bonucci's case is a curious one. He turned down a move to the Premier League last summer and signed a new deal. He says the recent transfer rumours are "just gossip" but the bust-up he had with Allegri in February and reports of a heated exchange with Dybala and Andrea Barzagli at half-time of the Champions League final -- strenuously denied by the player -- mean they refuse to go away.

Losing Sandro and Alves would be a big blow to Juve. They were key to the team's evolution in Europe. Bonucci, meanwhile, has an heir apparent in Daniele Rugani but, unless relations are really strained and the desire for a new challenge is stronger than a year ago, it's hard to see him asking to leave. He has a rare skill set, and in addition to being one of the best centre-backs in the world, he remains the youngest member of the "BBC" and a leader. Ideally, Juventus lose only one of the three and that's Alves, who has thrown a big spanner in the works.

The Old Lady will not appreciate any more surprises. She has already had enough upset for one summer. Her rivals revelled in the schadenfreude of her defeat. Buffon called them i miserabli. Invariably though, it's the Old Lady who has the last laugh.