The following is a guest post from Mindaugas Jančis.

This highly scientific research aims to take a look at how JuveFC.com rated the players throughout the 2019/20 season. It also makes far-fetched conclusions from supplementary data, such as the number of games played and whether it was the Champions League or a local match. Chiellini, who sadly played only three games, hasn’t been included.

 

Team Ratings

Team average: 6.0

Team median: 6.0

After counting individual player ratings throughout the season, I’ve decided to check how the team fared in each game and whether there’s a correlation between player performance and the win-draw-loss column.

Unsurprisingly, better play means better results. When the team average was 6.0 or higher, Juventus won 32 out of 33 games, September 17 Atletico match being the only draw.

The best two games were wins against Udinese (7.0 December 15, 6.8 January 15) but the other one was the 3rd worst game (5.1 July 23).

The worst game was a loss against Cagliari (4.6 July 29).

Most unworthy win came against Genoa (5.7 October 30).

Most unworthy draw came against Fiorentina (5.0 September 14).

There are no unworthy losses – every time the rating was 5.7 or lower.

 

Toughest opponents (below 6.0 at least two times):

  • Lyons L February 26 – 5.2
  • Napoli L January 27 – 5.5
  • Lazio L December 7 – 5.5
  • Lazio L December 23 – 5.6
  • Sassuolo D December 1 – 5.7
  • Napoli D June 17 – 5.8
  • Lyons W August 7 – 5.9
  • Sassuolo D July 15 – 5.9

Easiest opponents (above 6.0 at least two times):

  • Udinese W December 15 – 7.0
  • Udinese W January 15 – 8
  • Roma W January 22 – 6.6
  • Inter W March 8 – 6.6
  • Inter W October 6 – 6.5
  • Roma W January 11 – 6.4

 

Player Ratings

Here are the average and median player ratings. Below 25% ratings are colored in red, 25–75% are in yellow, and above 75% are green.

There’s also a graph for each player’s ratings throughout the season that shows negative, neutral, or positive trendlines.

Average and median

Team average: 6

Team median: 6

 

Min 5.27 Rugani
Average 6.0
Max 6.79 Ronaldo
Min Max Difference 1.52
25% Percentile 5.69 Danilo
Median 6.0 11 players
75% Percentile 6.25

 

  Player Avg Rating Median Rating
1. Ronaldo 6.79 7
2. Dybala 6.77 7
3. Demiral 6.5 6.5
4. De Ligt 6.41 6.5
5. Buffon 6.4 6.5
6. Szczęsny 6.27 6
7. Costa 6.18 6.5
8. Bonucci 6.16 6.5
9. Higuain 6.13 6
10. Ramsey 6.04 6
11. Cuadrado 6.02 6
12. Bentancur 6.02 6
13. Rabiot 5.99 6
14. Pjanic 5.98 6
15. Sandro 5.95 6
16. Matuidi 5.71 6
17. Danilo 5.69 6
18. de Sciglio 5.59 6
19. Can 5.42 5.5
20. Bernardeschi 5.37 5.5
21. Khedira 5.29 5.5
22. Rugani 5.27 5.5

 

Analysis

Both Dybala and Ronaldo are the best-rated players – the difference between 6.79 and 6.77 is negligible, their median scores are identical and better than any other player’s.

The worst players are Rugani and Khedira with 5.27 and 5.9 averages and 5.5 median rating. Only Bernardeschi and Can have the same 5.5 median.

Rabiot is Mr average – his 5.99 is closest to Juventus average of 6.00.

Costa and Bonucci stand out with their median ratings of 6.5, which are higher than Szczęsny’s 6. This means that they had more above-average games than Szczęsny and technically should swap places with him.

 

Player ratings – historic charts

Numbers can tell a story but a chart can do it better. Below are the charts with each player’s ratings throughout the season. The trendline shows whether things are going north, south, or nowhere in the long run.

The long flat line is the COVID-19 break. It’s interesting to see how some players scored before and after the break, while some were virtually unfazed.

Again, any rating that’s less than 6 is below the team’s average.

 

 

Analysis

When 10 out of 22 players, including one of your Top 2, are on a visible decline throughout the season, fighting for trophies can become a daunting task. Some were going up but crashed after the coronavirus break, others couldn’t climb back from the hole no matter what.

We won’t be including Demiral, Khedira, and Can because they haven’t played much and thus didn’t have a chance to show signs of improvement, stability, or the lack of both.

 

Getting better: Ronaldo, Rabiot, de Ligt, Bernardeschi (!)

Staying the same: Szczęsny, Buffon, Bonucci, de Ligt, Matuidi, Costa, Cuadrado

Getting worse: de Sciglio, Pjanic, Sandro, Ramsey, Dybala (!), Higuain, Rugani

 

De Ligt has shown the biggest improvement since the start of the season.

Rugani has shown the biggest anti-improvement throughout the season.

 

Total games played

Juventus player has played 30 games on average in the 2019/20 season. That’s 58% of the total games (52) played by the team. When counting the total games played,
Bernardeschi is Mr Average.

XI most used players (4-3-3): Szczęsny, Sandro, Bonucci, De Ligt, Cuadrado, Matuidi, Pjanic, Rabiot, Ronaldo, Higuain, Dybala

XI least used players (4-4-2): Buffon, Danilo, Rugani, Demiral, de Sciglio, Khedira, Bentancur, Can, Ramsey, Costa, Bernardeschi

 

Player Games % of Games
Bonucci 47 90%
Ronaldo 46 88%
Cuadrado 44 85%
Higuain 43 83%
Pjanic 42 81%
Dybala 41 79%
Sandro 41 79%
Matuidi 40 77%
De Ligt 39 75%
Szczęsny 37 71%
Rabiot 36 69%
Danilo 31 60%
Bernardeschi 30 58%
Bentancur 28 54%
Ramsey 28 54%
Costa 22 42%
Khedira 17 33%
Buffon 15 29%
Rugani 13 25%
de Sciglio 11 21%
Demiral 8 15%
Can 6 12%
Average 30 58%

 

Good and bad games

Good players can have bad games and vice versa. But which ones had the most? In this article, a bad game is anything below 6 rating and a good game is 7 or more.

Total games

Most ≥7 Games Games
Ronaldo 25
Dybala 22
De Ligt 14
Szczęsny 11
Bonucci 10
Higuain 10

 

Most <6 Games Games
Bernardeschi 21
Matuidi 16
Higuain 15
Pjanic 15
Rabiot 14
Cuadrado 12
Danilo 12

 

As you can see, Higuain is featured in both tables, meaning that he tends to either steal the show or disappear in a shadow, the latter, sadly, happening more often. But which players have the best and the worst difference between the good and the bad games?

 

The average Juventus player has 9.4 bad games, 14.4 average games, 6.2 good games out of 30 per season.

 

Dybala and De Ligt had few bad and many good games

Bernardeschi and Danilo had many bad and few good games

Bonucci, Demiral, and Costa had almost the same amount of good and bad games

% of games

We’ve been comparing the total numbers so far and that makes a difference when Bonucci has played 47 games (the most in Juventus) and Costa appeared in only 22 (not to mention that some were late game substitutions). Let’s see if anything changes if we count the % of good and bad games.

 

The average Juventus player had 34% bad games, 47% neutral games, and 19% good games.

Dybala, Ronaldo. Buffon, De Ligt, and Szczęsny had few bad and many good games

De Sciglio, Can, Khedira, Rugani, and Bernardeschi had many bad and few or none good games

Bonucci and Costa had nearly the same amount of bad and good games

Costa is Mr. Pendulum – 50% chance he’ll be average, 27% chance he’ll be bad, and 23% chance he’ll be good

 

Dybala and Ronaldo are the only two players with the majority of their games ranked 7 or more

Khedira, Rugani, and Bernardeschi are three player with the majority of their games ranked below 6

 

Top 3 players that are most likely to have an average game – Sandro (71%), Cuadrado (64%), Bonucci (60%)

Top 3 players that are least likely to have an average game – Rugani (23%), Ronaldo (24%), Bernardeschi (27%)

After switching to the percentages, Dybala and Ronaldo switch places, making the former Juventus’ best performing player. Buffon moves up to the 3rd place and Bonucci no longer makes the cut.

While Szczęsny seems to fare worse percentage-wise, one mustn’t forget that he’s played 7 out of 8 Champions League games (more on the league comparison later). Juventus lost only one game out of Buffon’s 15, so it’s natural for him to get a better rating.

Champions league vs Italian games

It’s one thing to earn a good rating playing against SPAL and another to shine in an away game against Atletico Madrid. That’s why we’ll be checking which players are at their best when it matters most. Of course, 8 games is a small sample size and many players appeared only in a few Champions League games, while others didn’t play at all. Therefore, we’ll be noting just the significant differences in ratings of those who appeared in at least 3 games.

 

Best and worst players

Top 5 Champions League players are Dybala, De Ligt, Ronaldo, Bonucci, and Higuain. Despite it’s best rating, Dybala appeared in only 5 Champions League fixtures.

Bottom 5 Champions League players are Khedira, Rabiot, Danilo, Bentancur, and Ramsey. Despite his poor rating, Bentancur appeared in 7 out of 8 Champions League fixtures.

 

Top 5 Italy players are Ronaldo, Dybala, Buffon, De Ligt, and Demiral.

Bottom 5 Italy players are Rugani, Khedira, Bernardeschi, de Sciglio, and Can.

 

Dybala, De Ligt, and Ronaldo are the only players in the Top 25% of Champions League and Italy.

Bernardeschi and Khedira are the only players in the Bottom 25% of Champions League and Italy

Cuadrado, Szczęsny, Sandro, and Pjanic are average in all games

 

The average team rating is virtually the same when comparing the Champions League and Italian matches (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Supercoppa), which means that Juventus shows up with the same composure in every game.

 

Difference in ratings

Finally, the time has come to see which players shift in another gear on the international scene and which ones succumb to the pressure and end up substituted.

CL Diff Max Diff Games
Bernardeschi +0.59 4
Dybala +0.38 5
Matuidi +0.32 4

 

CL Diff Min Diff Games
Rabiot -0.68 5
Ronaldo -0.43 8
Bentancur -0.38 7
Ramsey -0.33 4

 

Much to my surprise, Bernardeschi turned out to have the biggest positive rating difference. While his four caps in Champions League are still below average (5.88), it’s still much better than his third-worst 5.29 rating in Italy games.

The other two players who have shown a significant improvement in Champions League games are Dybala and Matuidi (!). The latter was average in Champions League and poor in the domestic tournaments, so that’s not much better than Bernardeschi’s result.

And to my biggest surprise, Ronaldo has fizzled when it matters most. The difference between his Italy and Champions League performances is second only to Rabiot, who is average in Italy and below average in Europe. Ronaldo is the only player that plays above average in all leagues but still plays significantly worse in the Champions League.

Just like Rabiot, the other two, Bentancur, and Ramsey, are average in Italy and below average in Europe.