The Bianconeri have made a 100 per cent start to the season in the absence of their veteran playmaker, placing a question mark over his status as a first-team regular.
Andrea Pirlo has been the lynchpin of the Juventus midfield ever since he arrived on a free transfer from AC Milan in the summer of 2011.
With his precision passing and dead-ball brilliance, the Italy international inspired the Bianconeri to three consecutive Scudetti - an achievement made all the more remarkable by the fact that the Old Lady was coming off the back of successive seventh-placed finishes.
Therefore, Pirlo's influence on Juventus' resurgence cannot be overestimated. However, his position is now being questioned.
The 35-year-old missed the start of the new season with a hip injury sustained in the Trofeo TIM and Juve have flourished in his absence, winning their first six games in all competitions - and without conceding a single goal.
With Pirlo almost ready to return to action ahead of the big Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, many pundits are now wondering if he should be recalled to a midfield that is functioning perfectly without him. Below, two Goal writers go head to head on the issue ...
| "PIRLO IS SO SPECIAL BECAUSE HE IS SO DIFFERENT" |
Three years ago, Massimiliano Allegri decided that Andrea Pirlo was no longer good enough to play in front of the AC Milan defence. That gross error of judgement has haunted him ever since.
Pirlo left for Juventus and transformed the Old Lady into the best team in Italy. He created 13 goals in his first season alone. In total, he has racked up 26 assists - and 12 goals - in three Scudetto-winning campaigns.
He may be 35 now but he remains the most influential midfielder in Serie A and it is no surprise that new Italy boss and former Juve coach Antonio Conte wants Pirlo to continue playing international football. Indeed, it is worth remembering that the veteran playmaker treated England to a passing masterclass just over three months ago.
The argument goes that Pirlo is slowing down but this is not a player that ever relied on pace. As Allegri recently stated, "Andrea is probably still as quick now as he was 10 years ago."
However, he is smarter, more intelligent. He arguably understands the game like no other player in the world today. Even the great Xavi remains awestruck.
"When I watch Pirlo play I have to admit that it's a wonder to behold," the Barcelona ace enthused. "I remain stupefied by him and I often watch Juventus games on TV only to admire him."
Of course, time waits for no man - yet Pirlo is a master of creating it. True, he is nothing like the modern midfielder but he is so special because he is so different. Claudio Marchisio has proven an able deputy but there is no 'new Andrea Pirlo'. He is unique.
As Argentine icon Jorge Valdano says, "He's the epitome of class; a man who leads the team using all the weapons that some consider antiquated yet, for me, are irreplaceable: deception, the pause, the fake, precision ... These are all the exact opposite of that word that is so fashionable today and such a disaster for the game: intensity."
Football has undeniably changed but it remains a game that is played with the head - not the feet. Pirlo proves that. Consequently, Allegri would be mad to make the same mistake again - and he knows it.
"I am lucky to find myself working with him again," the Juve coach acknowledged. "I can say that I've never called his qualities into question; otherwise people could justifiably say that I am a fool."
| "JUVE'S DEVELOPMENT NO LONGER DOWN TO PIRLO" |
Allegri's remark that Pirlo remains as quick now as he was 10 years ago shows exactly why he is not necessary to the new Juventus coach's system.
At Milan, he was happy - if a little hasty - to dispense with Pirlo in order to fill his three central midfield slots with more dynamic all-round performers. At the beginning of this season, injury has kept the 35-year-old out of his plans, yet he has hardly been missed.
Antonio Conte's 3-5-2 system relied on Pirlo's deep-lying creativity to inspire the team going forward, but also accommodated the veteran's lethargic style. With three central defenders behind him, the intensity of Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba or Claudio Marchisio on either side and Stephan Lichtsteiner and Kwadwo Asamoah patrolling the flanks, Pirlo had next-to-no defensive responsilibities and could survive on an average of just over one tackle per game in 2013-14. In Allegri's tweaked line-up, he would be afforded no such luxury.
While he has so far resisted a switch to 4-3-3 or 4-3-1-2 - "I often say '4-3-and then up front we'll see!'" was his attitude upon joining the club - Allegri is preparing his players into an understanding of a back-four system to allow them greater tactical flexibility, which was something so sorely lacking under Conte.
As effective as the 3-5-2 was in Juve's indomitable Serie A form, it was a system which fell woefully short in Europe. Teams began to adopt the Bayern Munich blueprint from 2012-13, when their high-pressing of the Juve midfield - and with it, the total nullifying of Pirlo - led them to a 4-0 aggregate success. A season later, Juve won just one group game out of six.
The pattern has continued at international level. While Pirlo was gifted time on the ball against England - Italy's only positive result at the World Cup - he was harried persistently against both Costa Rica and Uruguay, and his influence disappeared, along with the Azzurri's place in the tournament.
In his absence, Juve have started the season in perfect style, winning every game and, crucially, without conceding a goal. The midfield balance is undeniably stronger; Marchisio's form has been excellent, Pogba and Vidal have performed impressively when fitness problems have allowed, and the added cover of versatile summer signings Roberto Pereyra and Romulo has negated a need to rush Pirlo back from injury. Allegri is actively seeking ways around relying on Pirlo for the remainder of the season. That he has been linked with a move to LA Galaxy in the New Year is therefore hardly surprising.
"I inherited a team with great organisation and proven results, but now they need to improve," Allegri said after the win over Cesena. Pirlo has proven his worth in the past, but Juve's development - particularly in the Champions League - no longer rests on his shoulders.
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