The Italian champions secured a Champions League last-16 berth thanks to a 0-0 draw against last year's finalists but remain a long way off the standard required.
Juventus has qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League for the first time since 2012-13. This season may well be an improvement on last year's disastrous attempt when the club was put out by Galatasaray, but qualification to the last 16 should be taken for granted for a club of its stature and not celebrated.
The pitfall of early elimination also awaited Juve this year but Atletico Madrid had already assured its own qualification by the time the last match day rolled around. The Spanish champions saved their legs in this drab, scoreless encounter.
Atleti did not have to do any more than fulfil the fixture. Good thing for Juve. Had this been a "must-win" game, it is highly probable that the team would have failed to get over the line. Had Atletico needed a result, it could have been worse still. Based on its previous group stage outings, Juve has nothing of the verve and penetration required.
Awful performances against Atletico and Olympiakos had meant that Juve would be forced to endure the indignity of attempting to shore up qualification right until the final whistle of the final game. Big clubs generally do not operate like that.
In the aftermath there was a breath of relief winding around the Juventus Stadium, a relief that Atletico chose not to compete. Juventus' reward for clinging to Atleti's coat-tails will be an assignment against one of the group winners.
This result, and this group stage campaign, will thrill Juve fans as qualification has been achieved. But the truth is that the Italian champions do not belong in the exalted company of Atletico, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Dortmund, Chelsea and the rest. They will surely be beaten in the last 16 unless they are given a favourable draw. Their recent record in this competition is modest to say the least, with only one quarterfinal appearance since Calciopoli.
It was often said that Antonio Conte lacked the nous to take Juventus any further in Europe but the blame cannot be laid entirely at his feet. While the former midfielder was often shown up for a lack of tactical acumen, the club in its entirety is not geared up for anything approaching a challenge at this level.
Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal opted to remain with Juventus last summer in spite of concrete interest from clubs elsewhere in Europe; clubs that stand a better chance of achieving glory in the Champions League. Those two, Juve's best players, would be well advised to consider their current surroundings. Juve's other important players are all the wrong side of 30 and on the slide. Andrea Pirlo, in particular, is playing more poorly than at any other time in recent memory.
Transfer fees are not being lavished on the continent's best talents, nor are the best players being attracted there any longer. Instead of Alexis Sanchez comes Alvaro Morata. There is probably enough in the ranks to sustain command of Serie A for another few seasons but, at this level, the elite level, there is not enough to make an impact.
A lack of direction in the transfer market accounted for Conte, who walked away in the summer, and in his place came the underwhelming Max Allegri. He has kept things steady in Serie A, even if some of the vim and vigour of Conte's day has been lost.
If, under Conte, Juventus had something resembling the bite and tenacity of the coach who represented the club with such distinction in the 1990s, then much of Allegri is imprinted on this Juventus team in Europe. In a word, middling.
Thanks largely to Conte's extraordinary will and drive they re-established their domestic dominance in the face of admittedly puny competition. But the step up to European level has been, and will remain, beyond them.
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Couldn't be happier myself. Yea, a win would be awesome but we're through.
