For the briefest of moments it appeared that Juventus had spared their own blushes and come from two goals down to beat Salernitana in Serie A, but VAR had other ideas and they were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw.
Amidst the chaos of what looked to be a last-gasp Arkadiusz Milik winner at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday, with brawls breaking out and the striker given a red card for his celebration, cracks were being papered over by the hosts.
Trailing at half-time to an Antonio Candreva goal at the back post and Krzyzstof Piatek‘s penalty, Juventus‘ mixed start to the season was in danger of taking another blow and leaving them level on points with their far less illustrious guests after six games.
Having conceded the spot kick, Bremer atoned with a powerful header to halve the deficit early in the second period, before Leonardo Bonucci drew Juventus level in stoppage time after missing a penalty but firing in the rebound.
With Milik looking to have won it, Juventus were left reeling as the striker was dismissed, alongside Juan Cuadrado and coach Massimiliano Allegri as part of a brawl that erupted deep into stoppage time.
Juventus have failed to convince throughout the whole season and have relied on the individual brilliance of striker Dusan Vlahovic for magical moments against AS Roma and Spezia, leading to question marks surrounding the future of Allegri.
Allegri called into question
The tactician worked wonders in his his first spell at the club, sweeping up all before him domestically and leading the Bianconeri to the Champions League final, but his return has underwhelmed and Juventus are regressing under him.
Stale football with little excitement can be tolerated when it brings trophies, but labouring to a draw against Salernitana and winning just two matches from the past 11 is much harder to defend.
Chasing a goal at 2-1 down, Allegri caused plenty of ire amongst the Juventus support when he replaced dangerous attacking winger Filip Kostic for full-back Danilo, whilst his inability to get anything out of Moise Kean leaves him with only Vlahovic during Milik‘s impending ban.
The Bianconeri require a reshuffle and a more positive approach to their attacking play, with meaningful forward passing lacking and a disjointed link-up between midfield and the forwards in need of addressing.
Yet, Allegri has shown little sign of adapting his style and his approach to the game is looking increasingly dated and out of touch.
Having finished fourth in each of the past two seasons after a decade of dominance, Juventus simply cannot afford another wasted year, and Allegri must use the opening month of the season as a wake-up call before further ground is lost in the Scudetto race.
