JUVENTUS - VERONA : POST MATCH (21.09.2019)

It was a day for the new boys and familiar old faces to prove their worth, as Sarri made 5 changes to the starting 11 that faced Atletico Madrid a few short days ago. Paulo Dybala joined Ronaldo & Cuadrado in attack, the midfield saw two changes as Pjanic & Khedira took their place on the substitutes bench, replaced by Bentancur & Ramsey who would be making his debut start for the club. In defence De Ligt made way for Juventus other young signing of the summer, 21 year old Demiral who also made his league debut for Juventus. Buffon returned to his old familiar spot in goal for Juventus to make his 902nd Serie A appearance, now tying Milan legend Paulo Maldini for the most league appearances.


Throughout the first half fouls were committed by both sides that broke up play and slowed the tempo of the game down, no doubt favouring Verona who looked to frustrate Juventus. The main talking points from the opening 45 minutes would be two penalty decisions, one given and one not given. The first incident took place when Ronaldo appeared to have his shirt pulled enough to bring him down inside of Verona's penalty area, however the referee saw no foul and play continued. The second decision was made shortly after, and replays showed that it was probably the right decison, as Demiral tried to prevent Di Carmine from having a potential effort on goal and was too aggressive in putting his arms over the Verona player. What followed next was a bizarre sequence of events, Di Carmine stepped up only to be denied by the post, Darko Lazovic was alert enough to pounce on the rebound but was also denied by the frame of the goal, until Miguel Veloso finally volleyed the ball into the back of the net as Juventus failed to clear the ball out of their own area. 10 minutes later it would be Juventus turn to hit the back of the net, as Aaron Ramsey marked his debut with his first goal as a Juventus player, Ronaldo drawing the Verona players attention before passing to an Unmarked Ramsey who controlled the ball and struck from outside the 18 yard box to make it 1-1. Ramseys debut could have gotten even better, but he was not alert enough to see Ronaldo's deflected pass that was intended for Dybala but instead bounced past Ramsey who was well positioned for a strike on goal.


HALF TIME : JUVENTUS 1-1 VERONA


Early on in the half we would see the evenings second penalty, as minutes after the restart Cuadrado was brought down inside Verona's penalty area and Ronaldo did what he does best to put Juventus ahead for the first time in the game. Verona goalkeeper made the marksman job all the easier by giving away the position that he was diving early and Ronaldo struck the ball down the middle. With five minutes played the game would see its first substitution, Pjanic on and Bentancur coming off. On the 71st minute Dybala would cap off his performance in the first team with a round of applause from the Allianz Stadium, coming off as a substitute to make way for Higuain. Shortly after his introduction, Higuains first contribution to the game was to receive a bloody nose as he challenged for the incoming ball from a Pjanic free kick, not the introduction Higuain would have had in mind. As the game entered the final 10 minutes of normal play, Higuain would sit on the pitch and visibly show his frustrations, as the earlier knock that drew blood from his nose was causing him concern, but regardless Higuain would continue after some treatment from the medical staff. Despite trailing 2-1 Verona would continue to try and draw the scoreline level and almost doing just that in the dying minutes of the game, Buffon rolling back the years to keep his old lady ahead and denying Lazovic from close range before Veloso saw his effort only just hit the bar.


FULL TIME : JUVENTUS 2-1 VERONA



STATS FACT :

TOTAL SHOTS : 
JUVENTUS 21 - 10 VERONA



ON TARGET : 
JUVENTUS 3-3 VERONA



COMPLETED PASSES : 
JUVENTUS 434 - 270 VERONA



FOULS :
JUVENTUS 12 - 19 VERONA

Alex Sandro ended the game as Juventus most creative outlet, with the most completed passes (71) and creating the most goal scoring opportunities (4)


ZONAL MARKING :
With the recent game against Atletico Madrid still in memory, Verona would also highlight Juventus concerns when it comes to their own method of defending against set pieces. Similarly to Atletico, when it came to Verona's best chances to score they looked more likely to come from a set piece, as on several occasions a yellow shirted player would find himself un-marked in front of goal with an opportunity to head the ball towards goal. Against Atletico the old lady's luck in defence run out, and had Verona taken advantage of their chances the scoreline could have been different today, what is evident is that Juventus need to do more work on the training pitch if they are to avoid conceding goals from set pieces.


PLAYER WATCH : DEMIRAL
started his first competitive game for Juventus, and it showed. Demiral showed enthusiasm & commitment when it came to approaching his defensive duties, but too many times crossing the line of whats regarded by officials as 'aggressive play', once a defender puts his arms around an opposition player they run the risk of conceding a penalty and that is exactly what happened during the first half for Verona's opening goal. Similar to Juventus other recent CB signing De Ligt, Demiral is young with time on his side to learn, but he will need to learn fast if he wants to play a role in the bigger games of the season. 


PLAYER WATCH : DYBALA
Given his first start of the season it was time for 'La Joya' to deliver and prove his doubters wrong, and there should be little argument that the Argentine did just that today. Linking up well with Ronaldo in attack, coming deep into midfield to help his team mates when possession was lost, more performances like this and Dybala may well see himself in the starting line up more often than expected.

ATLETICO - JUVENTUS : MATCH PREVIEW (18.09.2019)

CURRENT FORM :
ATELTICO : 2 WIN, 0 DRAW, 1 DEFEAT
JUVENTUS : 2 WIN, 1 DRAW, 0 DEFEAT

PREVIOUS RESULT :
REAL SOCIEDAD 2-0 ATELTICO
FIORENTINA 0-0 JUVENTUS


Its that time of year, hopes are high with expectations even higher. The champions league story for Juventus begins once again, and it begins with a tough away trip to a familiar opponent, Atletico Madrid. Last season's encounter provided a roller coaster of emotions for Juventus & her fans, following up a morale sapping 2-0 defeat at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium with a memorable 3-0 comeback in Turin to see the Bianconeri through to the quarter finals, the question is what emotion will Juventus be providing tonight?


THE RONALDO FACTOR :
There is no I in team, but when it comes to having Ronaldo in your team 9/10 he is the man to make the difference when it matters most, especially when the opponent is Atletico Madrid. Ronaldo has scored an incredible 25 goals over 33 fixtures against Atletico Madrid, and after scoring a hat trick during the previous meeting, Atletico Madrid fans will not be looking forward to the sight of Ronaldo once again on the oppositions team.


ONE TO WATCH : João Félix
Arriving from Benfica for a transfer fee of 120 million euros, so far the 19 year old Portuguese attacker has looked well on his way to proving a shrewd signing on Atletico Madrid's part, starting all of Atletico's league games so far and providing one goal and one assist over the opening 4 La Liga fixtures. If Juventus want to avoid conceding goals then nullifying the threat of João Félix must be a priority.


OLD LADY FLATTERING TO DECIEVE
So far during Juventus opening 3 games the old lady have looked far from convincing, especially away from home. A shaky start away to Parma that saw Juventus wasteful in front of goal, a Jekyll & Hyde performance against Napoli that saw the old lady throw a 3-0 lead away, and most recently leaving Florence (admittedly a tough away fixture for Juventus) with a very fortunate 0-0 draw. Lets focus on that 0-0 draw, there are many possible explanations for why the team performed the way that they did, early injuries to Douglas Costa & Pjanic in the first half didn't help, as this threw the original game plan out the window as well as using up two substitutions early in the game. But still, the overall performance was disappointing & not what fans want to see before a big European night. A similar performance tonight, and Juventus could be returning to Italy beaten and bruised.


SARRIBALL
Maurizio Sarri has a specific way that he wants his team to play, unfortunately for him his current team Juventus have not had very long to fully adjust to this style of play. Travelling away to Asia during pre-season didn't help but that's for another discussion. Also unfortunate was Sarri's absence from the side lines for Juventus opening two games of the season, as he was recovering from a bout of Pneumonia. What is clear when watching Juventus (and was to be expected so early in the season) is how the team are not completely comfortable having to play the ball out of defence, specifically Wojciech Szczęsny, who throughout the previous game never looked comfortable when on the ball & at times almost contributed to a Fiorentina goal. No doubt Atletico will look to press & take advantage similarly to how Fiorentina played, The Juventus defence will need to be alert & decisive in their passing, otherwise it will be very unlikely that the bianconeri will leave with a clean sheet intact. Also cause for concern is the long term absence of Giorgio Chiellini, who will remain on the injured list for a minimum of 6 months due to requiring knee surgery, long time followers of Juventus know how much of a difference Chiellini makes in defence, his presence & leadership is already being missed, and welcomed by every opponent Juventus will face during those 6 months. The bottom line is that the team will need time to fully adapt to a new method of playing their football, but with Atletico awaiting them in Spain, time is not on Juventus side.


CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM
Fortunately for Juventus, Atletico have at time's looked far away from the rock solid defensive unit that we have come to expect. Known in the past for being a tough, awkward opponent that frustrates their opposition, Atletico have uncharacteristically been conceding goals all over the place, even at home. Atletico surprisingly fell 2-0 behind against Eibar in their own stadium before bouncing back to win 3-2 thanks to a late stoppage time goal by Thomas. Atletico then followed that scare up with a 2-0 defeat against Real Socidad. Make no mistake Atletico will remain a very tough opponent for Juventus, as the old lady has displayed her own uncharacteristic flaws in defence, throwing a 3-0 lead away at home against Napoli before a Koulibaly own goal spared the old lady's blushes in a 4-3 win.


WHAT TO EXPECT
4-3-3 with both Matuidi & Khedira starting in the centre of midfield, despite Rabiot looking impressive during pre-season. Matuidi & Khedira can contribute to the team when called upon, but when both play together the midfield becomes slow & predictable. Slow and predictable are not descriptions you want to hear when the opponent is Atletico Madrid, who will likely ponce on any sign of indecisiveness on Juventus part. Any result taken from the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium will be earned & hard fought, and with Atletico Madrid conceding goals lately it isn't impossible to imagine Juventus leaving with a draw or win... If the right Juventus side turns up on the night.