The clues to the future were in the more obvious details when Juventus won Serie A with two matches to spare at the end of June.

Hardly on champion form after beating midtable Sampdoria to record a second win in six games, Maurizio Sarri felt the need for a cigarette while his players were celebrating, even being denied that relief when his players threw a bucket of water on him.

Switching from a soaking to a damp squib of a celebratory interview, Sarri suggested that his players had won the title in spite of him, and alluded to showdown meetings that he had held in an attempt to correct Juve's periods of stuttering form during the season, which perhaps succeeded as much because their rivals fell away as they did because of any inspirational exchanges.

Predictably reliant on Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus were restricted to playing everything through their central luminary, a one-dimensional approach that lacked the fluidity of the 'Sarriball' style with which the Italian won Serie A Coach of the Year with Napoli in 2016.

When Ronaldo misfired, Juventus inevitably did too, culminating in a performance of anonymity by his standards in their Coppa Italia final stalemate and defeat on penalties.

The occasionally uninspiring tactics that earned Sarri criticism at Chelsea last season, and the pivotal played by Eden Hazard as his former side won the Europa League in style, seemed a minor headache compared to the nightmare that the final weeks of his reign at Juve became.

Most teams ease off the pedal once a title is secured, but Sarri's side stalled after that win.

Ronaldo failed to score for a third game out of five in the 2-0 loss at Cagliari, which might have been understandable three days after winning the league had it not been followed by a first Serie A home defeat since 2018 on the last day, ending a run of 40 matches.