Former Saints flop Ivan Juric's UCL debut turned into a nightmare as PSG thrashed Atalanta 4-0, with the manager's trusted disciple Sulemana going helpless on the bench.
It's UCL fever all over Europe, and given CWC champions Chelsea's opening defeat, the competition has hooked the entire English division already. Well, the atmosphere's hardly been any different at St. Mary's except for the unique dilemma the fanbase finds themselves in.
Having seen icon Virgil van Dijk run back old memories with an extra-time winner for Liverpool, but a no-Romeo Lavia for Chelsea the same day, Saints feel torn apart in their perspectives of the opening matchday.
Nevertheless, while this choice may be tricky, all Saints fans must've stood together on the same page regarding another UCL result. We talk of Ivan Juric's Atalanta's humiliation at the hands of PSG, which would have reaffirmed the Saints' views on their ex-boss.
Now, honestly, getting drawn up first against the defending Champions meant agony, but there's no denying that Juric's plans just aggravated it. Similar to his Southampton days, the Croatian got exposed as early as the 3rd minute of the game.
Eventually that early blow proved to be the beginning of a nightmare for Juric's Atalanta, who ended up accumulating the worst deficit after the 1st matchday of 4 goals.
Humiliating UCL start endangers Juric's Atalanta future
Truth being told, no way being blown up on your UCL debut means anything concrete, but Juric's player management fumbles are putting him in serious discussions.
It wasn't long ago when his trusted signing Kamaldeen Sulemana had expressed confidence in even succeeding Atalanta star Ademola Lookman if the situation demands it. Yet, the ex-Saint was kept reduced to the bench in Lookman's absence, which laid the invitation for an embarrassing scoreline.
What's further intriguing is that Atalanta's reality hasn't been any better in Serie A, with the side enjoying the cushion of a couple of easy results to show for a 7th place. And that shall change soon, given their challenging stretch of games ahead.
But from the Saints' perspective, they must note down key learnings from Juric's case and improve themselves. Otherwise, given the way it's going, it isn't ruled out that St. Mary's needs to undergo a Juric-esque sacking and managerial overhaul once again.