Juventus went two goals down within the opening 10 minutes against Genoa and it took some Paulo Dybala magic to turn things around.

Player Ratings

Gianluigi Buffon: Couldn’t keep out the first goal having been left stranded by his defence and did the best he could on the penalty. Routine saves thereafter, can’t help but feel the blame was more on his back line than him. 6.0/10

Stephan Lichtsteiner: A better performance in this game than in the pre-season friendlies he took part in and last weekends game against Cagliari. Made a superb intervention, ran the right-flank well enough, made some good runs and looked solid.  6/10

Daniele Rugani: The penalty could be attributed to him but the whole game was full of strange calls, even with the benefit of the VAR. Better after those initial mistakes and he fared well against the Genoa attack and high pressing. 6.0/10

Giorgio Chiellini: At fault for the opener and his positioning overall was a poor, but like Rugani, he got better as the game progressed. It’ll take time to see the best of the pairing who still seem to be finding a rhythm. 5.5/10

Alex Sandro: Uncharacteristically poor – Was owned in the first half by Goran Pandev, who kept him pegged back and beat him on more than one occasion. Poor in the final third of the pitch as well with some truly wayward crosses. Needs to improve. 5/10

Sami Khedira: Anonymous. I had to check he was on the pitch at one stage, such was his absolute lack of influence in the centre. No energy, no drive, no muscle, no support offered to the attack. Abject.  4/10

Miralem Pjanic: A better game from the Bosnian who improved as Juve started to control the match more. Seemed to be more at ease with Matuidi next to him but still needs to offer more to support the attack. 6.0/10

Juan Cuadrado: Another Jekyll and Hyde display – Moments of brilliance, like the perfectly timed run and sublime finish for Juve’s 3rd goal, coupled with aimless runs and losing the ball in the final third. 6.0/10

Paulo Dybala: Man of the match for the second game in a row. Absolutely stole the show yet again, taking the game to Genoa and dictating the pace and tempo. A constant threat, drifting from right to left – Took his penalty with precision and scored two other great efforts to notch up his first Serie A hatrick.   9.0/10

Mario Mandzukic: Does exactly what Allegri needs him to do and has grown into this role with real tenacity and maturity. Could have scored a goal of his own before setting up Cuadrado to take the lead with a perfectly weighted cross. 6.5/10

Gonzalo Higuain: Deserves more credit for dropping deep to try and spark things into life and do his share of the defensive duties. Had a few wasted chances but was otherwise good in attack, creating the space for Dybala to operate in. 6/10

 

 

Substitutes

Blaise Matuidi: Another good cameo from the new midfielder. More energy and industry than Khedira displayed all match. 6.0/10

Andrea Barzagli: Came on late to shore up the defence and see the game out. 6.0/10

Rodrigo Bentacur: A nice cameo appearance, confident and assured. The start of many more, i hope. N/A