Juventus began the day with a one-point advantage over fifth place, and with Fiorentina having already secured safety, they seemed to represent the ideal opposition.
However, the game was largely stop-start in a drab opening half-hour, with one foul in particular getting the home faithful off their feet, as Dusan Vlahovic questionably went down under pressure from Marin Pongracic, just moments before Roberto Piccoli went down the other end and saw an effort blocked.
The first goal could easily have gone to Juventus after 20 minutes, but for the quick thinking of David de Gea, who raced out of his goal to deny Vlahovic after a terrible backpass from Cher Ndour put him in trouble.
However, Ndour would redeem himself with half-time looming, when a quick counter saw Manor Solomon pick him out as he timed a run past the Juventus backline to perfection, before rushing into the area and slotting into the far corner from a narrow angle.
Juventus were unable to respond before the interval, and with their unbeaten home record against teams that began the round outside the top six (W7, D6) in jeopardy, Jeremie Boga was deployed in place of Teun Koopmeiners to inject some fresh attacking impetus.
But the effects were far from obvious – even though Weston McKennie and Francisco Conceicao both saw shots parried away by De Gea. Juventus’ cause was also dented when news of goals for Milan and Como elsewhere filtered through, putting Juventus fifth with an hour played.
With the Allianz Stadium crying out for a hero, Vlahovic seemingly equalised just after the three-quarter mark, but a VAR review deemed him to be offside when converting at the near post from a return ball across goal.
Naturally, Juventus’ composure was dwindling by the minute, and Fiorentina sealed the points on 83’ when the Bianconeri were unable to clear their lines from a Viola free kick, allowing Rolando Mandragora to curl an exquisite shot into the top-left corner past a helpless Michele Di Gregorio.
There was no going back for Juventus, who know what a huge opportunity missed this was. They now must win at the home of local rivals Torino to have any chance of breaking into the top four.
Even then, their fate will be out of their hands, while Fiorentina can spend the upcoming week basking in a fourth straight H2H unbeaten.
Flashscore Man of the Match: David de Gea (Fiorentina)