On Wednesday night, Juventus lost their first leg encounter in the Champions League round of 16 against Porto.
Although a 2-1 defeat away from home isn’t exactly a disastrous result in itself, the players’ performances were mostly below-par.
The lack of focus caused the Old Lady to concede goals within the first minute of each half.
This didn’t go unnoticed for the Italian sports newspapers, who berated the players in their post-match ratings.
Football Italia reports that the major three newspapers considered Rodrigo Bentancur to be the worst player on the pitch.
The Uruguayan’s horrendous back pass offered Medhi Taremi the easiest of goals in the first minute of the match.
On the other hand, Federico Chiesa was naturally chosen as the best Juventus player on Wednesday.
The Italian winger was his side’s most dangerous player throughout the match, and ended up snatching a precious away goal with a well-taken strike in the 82nd minute.
The former Fiorentina winger received a rating of 7/10 by the three media outlets, and La Gazzetta dello Sport states that he ”deserves a statute”.
“He is repaying the club’s trust with some great performances and crucial goals,” added the Milan-based newspaper.
“He was missing one in Champions League and he found it.”
Cristiano Ronaldo, Dejan Kulusevski and Weston McKennie were among the players who were particularly criticized.
Porto-Juventus: Italian sports papers’ ratings:
Tuttosport: Szczesny 6, Danilo 5.5, de Ligt 6, Chiellini 6 (Demiral 5.5), Alex Sandro 5, Chiesa 7, Bentancur 4, Rabiot 6.5, McKennie 5 (Morata 6), Kulusevski 5, Ronaldo 5. Coach: Pirlo 5
Corriere dello Sport: Szczesny 5.5, Danilo 5.5, de Ligt 5.5, Chiellini 6, (Demiral 5.5) Alex Sandro 5, Chiesa 7, Bentancur 4, Rabiot 5.5, McKennie 4.5 (Morata 5.5), Kulusevski 4.5, Ronaldo 4.5. Coach: Pirlo 5
Gazzetta dello Sport: Szczesny 5, Danilo 5.5, de Ligt 5, Chiellini 5.5 (Demiral 5.5), Alex Sandro 6, Chiesa 7, Bentancur 4, Rabiot 6.5, McKennie 5.5 (Morata 6.5), Kulusevski 4.5, Ronaldo 4.5. Coach: Pirlo 5