Juventus hosted Atalanta on Sunday night with a chance to draw level on points with the visitors, but instead found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-0 thrashing that must serve as a reality check for their entire project.

The Bianconeri have endured wildly fluctuating results, finding themselves eliminated from the UEFA Champions League and Coppa Italia, but on a five-game winning run in Serie A that had catapulted them back into contention.

Their problems seemed obvious as they were dumped out of Europe by PSV Eindhoven and suffered a humiliating cup exit at the hands of minnows Empoli, the latter defeat prompting Coach Thiago Motta to say his side had “really hit rock bottom.”

Yet somehow despite those impactful losses and an injury list that left them with just one recognised central defender, Juve had moved to within six points of the league leaders after that string of Serie A victories.

Even notching a win over table-topping Inter, those results prompted a number of outlets – including La Gazzetta dello Sport – to declare that Juve were actually in contention for the Serie A title.

Yet after the 90+ minutes of action on Sunday, that idea seems simply laughable. Juventus were lucky to get to half time trailing by only a single goal, Mateo Retegui’s penalty marking the only effort Atalanta were able to fire beyond the excellent Michele Di Gregorio.

The Juve ‘keeper was immediately under siege after the break, a woeful back pass from Lloyd Kelly sending Marten de Roon away on the break. Di Gregorio pulled off a great save to deny Ademola Lookman, Retegui’s follow up was blocked but De Roon made no mistake with a third effort.

More goals followed from Davide Zappacosta and Ademola Lookman, prompting large numbers of Juve supporters – who had already been berating their own team throughout the second half – to head for the exits.

“Clearly, the fans have every right to jeer when they see a game like this,” Captain Manuel Locatelli told DAZN shortly after the final whistle. “I always tell the younger players that the atmosphere depends entirely on us and our performances. The fans follow us everywhere and they have the right to boo. We need to turn the situation around, it all depends on us and our attitude.”

That is certainly true, with a loss that ranks as the club’s worst home defeat in almost 60 years and which will certainly end the nonsensical talk of a Scudetto push from the Bianconeri.

In their first season under Thiago Motta, Juve have now lost just two league games, but 13 draws show just how far off the pace this side has been. It was a similar story in Europe too, the Old Lady notching three wins, three draws and two losses in her eight league phase games, before a 4-3 aggregate loss to PSV in the Playoff Round.

Yet there are undeniably signs of promise. Defensively the side has largely done well, with only Napoli (23) having conceded fewer goals than the 25 scored against Juve so far this term.

The Bianconeri have scored as many goals as Antonio Conte’s men too, with only Atalanta, Lazio and Inter finding the back of the net more often. Perhaps what that record ultimately shows is that Conte, unlike Motta, has been able to teach his side to deliver in the moments that matter.

With 10 games to go, the Juve boss must find a way to lift his players and ensure that they finish in the top four, a goal that would undoubtedly have been their aim at the start of the campaign.

Brought in to replace the dour approach that Max Allegri succumbed to in recent years, Thiago Motta must now show that he can deliver both style and substance despite currently failing to do either.

Both Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo were dismissed after just one season at the helm, and the current Coach must secure Champions League football for next year and show that he is still the right man to steward this new-look side.

The heavy nature of this defeat will end any title talk, but the reality check handed out by Atalanta must not be in vain. It’s time for Juventus and Thiago Motta to deliver.