Prior to the home clash with Cagliari, Gigi Del Neri declared last week that he believed the Bianconeri were in danger of becoming dependent on Serbian international Milos Krasic as they attempted to put an inconsistent start to the season behind them. Following the 4-2 victory on Sunday night, has Del Neri been proved right following Krasic’s hat-trick firing Juve to victory?

Del Neri still has defensive headaches ©VincenzoPinto/GettyImages

Despite the scoreline suggesting a comfortable enough win, Juve still have huge problems to overcome if they are to climb up the table. Take away Krasic’s goalscoring exploits, and the possibility of being humbled twice on home soil in the same week threatened. Lacklustre defending gifted Alessandro Matri two goals – the first of which a free-header with both Bonucci and Chiellini looking on in despair having failed to pick up their man.

With winning comes confidence and a winning mentality, so for the most part there is no need to be negative. Further, as Del Neri rightly pointed out after the game, Juve must become more of a team and not allow themselves to become one-dimensional through Krasic. However, there are still basic problems that La Vecchia Signora must overcome if they are to be considered serious candidates for a top four finish and a possible Scudetto challenge. Scoring goals do not appear to be a problem, however for a club which is renowned for their history of producing some of the finest defensive talents to play the game - something at the back is not right.

With a huge Europa League tie against Roberto Mancini's Manchester City on Thursday, the Bianconeri need a result to ease their passage into the knock-out stages after the disappointing draw at home against Lech Poznan. With the goal-scoring threat that they possess, there will be plenty of goals at Eastlands, but whether Del Neri's troops can deny City scoring them - only time will tell.