Champions League success vital if Juventus to escape financial strife

These are uncertain times for Juventus. For a club that won nine Serie A titles in a row from 2012 until 2020, two seasons without a league title represents something of drought.

And currently, a third looks very likely.

On Sunday, another ordeal ended in late drama as Juventus looked to be heading to a home loss against Salernitana, only for the team to salvage a late draw, and then think they had won it before a last-ditch goal was disallowed.

In the end the 2-2 draw felt like an injustice after the video assistant referee disallowed what looked a clear winner for the Old Lady deep into stoppage time.

But the Turin club have bigger problems, ones that can only be fixed with a hugely successful season and a deep run into the Champions League knockout stages.

After losses of $213 million in the 2020 to 2021 season, similar problems arose last season (2021 to 2022), with the club once again stuck in the red.

Exor, the holding company of the Agnelli family that owns 63.8 percent of Juventus’ shares, oversaw club losses of $133 million in the six months ending Dec. 31, compared with a $115 million loss over the same period a year earlier.

The Bianconeri shareholders will meet between Sept. 16 and 23 to discuss their economic results and agree a new budget.

These financial losses have left the club’s accounts in arrears for the fifth consecutive year.

Weak revenues at the Allianz Stadium, due to the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic — with capacity often restricted to between 50 and 75 percent — in addition to the high cost of Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract, despite his departure in the summer of 2021, have played major roles in these figures.

Ronaldo’s deal, with his basic salary and financial rewards, has