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After winning 3-0 at Lecce on Sunday, Juventus are the new Serie A leaders as they are currently at the top with 52 points from 21 games, partially thanks to the fact that Inter have one game in hand as the Nerazzurri will face Napoli on Monday of the Supercoppa Italiana final. Massimiliano Allegri's team took advantage of this to become the Serie A leaders for the first time this season thanks to another incredible performance from striker Dusan Vlahovic and USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie. 

Vlahovic and McKennie at their best

The recent performances of Vlahovic impressed not only for the goals scored but also for the impact he had on the games themselves. The Serbian star scored five goals in the last three matches (11 in 19 games so far), including two braces against Sassuolo at home and Sunday. After a disappointing 2022-23 season due to the injuries he suffered, Vlahovic is now finally at the level he showed when he was at Fiorentina before joining the Bianconeri in January 2022. 

On top of that, McKennie showed again to be a crucial player in the tactical system of Allegri, as the USMNT midfielder had one of his best performances of the season. Apart from the last game against Sassuolo when he was suspended, he's played 13 games in a row without missing a single minute of game time. An impressive record, considering how his season started at the club when he was one step away from leaving the Bianconeri. He also came very close to scoring his first goal of the season against Lecce before Vlahovic touched the ball on the line and scored his second goal of the night. 

Their performances were huge and Juventus' win was massive for multiple reasons. First of all, the Bianconeri have so much momentum at the summit, even if they played one game more than Inter, and if they win the next home clash against Empoli, they will face Inter at San Siro on Feb. 4 surely as leaders of the Serie A table. Massimiliano Allegri has now won 300 matches as a manager in Serie A, becoming only the third to reach this milestone in the league after Giovanni Trapattoni (352) and Nereo Rocco (302). 

Despite the criticism around the Italian coach for the quality of the football expressed by his team, he's now fully in the race to win the title and can focus mainly on one competition for the rest of the season, while Inter will also play the Champions League round of 16 next month against Atletico de Madrid. It's clear that this win put more pressure on Inter, who will now have to face Fiorentina away next weekend before facing Juventus at home on Feb. 4. That game will likely tell us much more about this title race and can become a key moment for the 2023-24 season. In two weeks, we will know who is the real leading candidate for the Scudetto. 

Juventus weren't exactly expected to be, but here they are.