Juventus surprisingly named a very strong starting 11 with few of the regular starters rested, usually the standard practice before an important Champions League fixture (especially an away leg) is to rest most of your first team regulars, Allegri however had other ideas, naming Dybala, Mandzukic, Ronaldo, Cancelo and both returnees Bonucci & Chiellini in the starting line up. With a trip to Atletico Madrid only 4 days away it was a bold move from the Juventus boss, it was also a move that paid off without incident. Previously supporters main gripe with the side was how suddenly the defence had began to leak goals, and look far from competent in defending after conceding 6 goals in back to back games (3-0 defeat against Atalanta & a 3-3 draw with Parma), tonight Juventus would be the ones scoring the goals, and doing it whilst keeping a clean sheet.
Paulo Dybala made his return to the starting line up in style, scoring the opening goal with an impressive effort from long range that ended in the top corner of the net. It was the perfect response after a spell on the substitutes bench that screamed “try and bench me now!”. Juventus would go on to control the game and most of the possession too, passing their way into Frosinone’s half with minimum effort as their opponents declined to apply pressure on Juventus, instead they mostly sat back and hoped for the best. Juventus would waste little time in doubling their lead, beginning from a corner kick that found its way through a crowd of players and onto the head of a diving Mandzukic at the far post, Sportiello denied the Croatian but could do very little in preventing Bonucci from forcing the ball over the line for 2-0 in scrappy fashion. The half would continue with Frosinone proving little threat on Juventus clean sheet until the closing minutes, Ciani going close from a set piece effort that narrowly went over the crossbar.
HALF TIME: JUVENTUS 2-0 FROSINONE
The second half would be a repeat performance of the opening 45 minutes for Juventus. Still yet to get his name on the score sheet Ronaldo was determined to do just that, Dybala darting inside of Frosinone’s penalty box only for his low cross towards Ronaldo to intercepted and hit out of play, Ronaldo showed his frustration by slapping the goal post but his frustration would not last very long. Ronaldo’s goal would arrive little over 10 minutes later, Mandzukic finding Ronaldo inside the penalty area with a clear shot on goal which Ronaldo took no hesitation in scoring. It would be Ronaldo final contribution in the game as he immediately substituted and replaced by Bernardeschi. Juventus would once again control most of the play and at times the the match looked more akin to a warm up session for a tougher task that lay ahead.
FULL TIME : JUVENTUS 3-0 FROSINONE
STAT FACT: Juventus ended the game with 18 shots & 9 on target, not to mention 60% possession. Compare this to Frosinone's 15 efforts on goal with only 1 reaching the target, and you get an idea of how straight forward this match really was for Juventus.
THE GOOD :
- ENDING THE GAME WITH NO INJURIES : As is always the main concern when a European knockout fixture is awaiting round the corner, injuries to key players is something fans want to avoid at all costs. Playing your first team regulars against a side like Frosinone who went on to commit 18 fouls during the game is always risky, but it was ultimately a risk that paid off. Both Bonucci & Chiellini got some game time after returning from injury (Bonucci playing the full 90 minutes) and Ronaldo even got to do his favourite thing on a football pitch to keep the Portuguese superstar happy, score a goal (preferably several)
- CONFIDENCE BUILDER : Confidence in the side, to a degree had been on the wane. Following on the footsteps of two disappointing results & winning against the run of play away to Lazio, Juventus needed to get their act together and show why they were tipped to go all the way in the champions league this season. The process began mostly during the second half against Sassuolo in the previous fixture, and was on display for the duration of tonight’s game. No scares, no game changing errors and over all no major complaints about the performance, as you would expect from a 3-0 victory. Frosinone are clearly one of the lesser sides in Serie A and in all likely-hood will end the season in relegation, but as the old saying goes “you can only beat whats in front of you” and Juventus did just that, convincingly.
- PAULO DYBALA : Returning to the staring line up, Dybala had a point to prove and wasted little time in doing so. Not only opening the score line within 6 minutes of play, Dybala would also go on to be one of Juventus best players of the game, creating the most chances for his side and only being surpassed by play making defender Bonucci in the passing stats, both players having the same amount of successful passes (67) with Bonucci making slightly more attempts (77 compared with Dybala’s 72). Tonight Dybala was given the opportunity to prove his value and that is exactly what he did, for confirmation just go and watch how well he took the opening goal.
THE BAD :
In all honesty there wasn’t really much to complain about tonight's performance, so instead of a one sided report I will nit pick, twice, and boy is this nit picking.
- LOW ATTENDANCE : For whatever reason attendance for tonight's game was low, and it showed. With several empty seats on display long time followers of Juventus could be forgiven for getting flashbacks from watching games being played at the old soulless Stadio Delle Alpi. A low attendance is never a good thing, no matter what the reason is behind it. Whether this was a response to ticket pricing, or the status of the game being played is up for debate, but either way it doesn't look good and is far from being aesthetically pleasing for a viewing audience.
- JOAO CANCELO : Ok, now this really is grasping at straws for a complaint, but complain I will anyway. Cancelo is a talented player and is especially effective in Juventus attacking play, however, what isn't effective is a petulant foul off the ball when your 3-0 ahead and in the dying minutes of a game. Suffering a foul on the 87th minute Cancelo wasted little time in finding retribution within a minute, receiving a yellow card for bundling his opponent over without the ball and having to be calmed down by Leonardo Bonucci afterwards. Do this sort of thing in a more important game and the resulting card might be a different colour.
LOOKING AHEAD
The goal tonight was simple, win all 3 points and end the 90 minutes without any injuries, mission was well and truly accomplished. Atletico Madrid will no doubt be Juventus toughest challenge so far this season, and it is a challenge that they are more than capable of toppling. An interesting note is that Juventus will have an extra days rest compared with their opponents, as Atletico Madrid will be playing their next game on Saturday afternoon, sometimes its the little differences that decide the outcome of a game and every advantage thrown Juventus way must be taken advantage of. Allegri himself set the tone for what is expected of his side on Wednesday night “we must be warier and find the right moment to score. It’s crucial that we get a goal there, otherwise qualification would be rather difficult to achieve.” scoring an away goal can be the difference between progression to the next round & elimination (as Juventus know all too well from last season) and this is something that Juventus must achieve.
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