Juventus 1-0 Atalata: Party At The Stadium

Today it was all about celebrating and Juventus did that in a great fashion.  1-0 win against Atalanta, good(ish) performance, all-time Serie A point record still within reach (a win against Cagliari would do it), still undefeated at home, clean sheet, loud fans.

Storari: 6.5. He didn’t need to do much (I haven’t done the ratings for a long time, but I feel I have already used this sentence referring to the Juve goalie few times), he denied well a Baselli long-range effort and he was cool enough in distributing the ball, despite Atalanta high, but not really intense, pressing.

Barzagli: 6. Barzaglione Zabaione is slowly returning to his old majestic self, Juventus are basically getting him ready for the World Cup at this point. Commanding, a bit quicker than the last time he was out there.

Ogbonna: 6.5. He rebounded after the shocker against Sassuolo. Of course, this was a much different and quieter game, but he tackled almost perfectly and overpowered the opponents. Anyway, I don’t know if the libero position is the most suitable for him in the future.

Chiellini: 7. Atalanta didn’t bother the defense a lot, thus Giorgio decided to participate to the buildup of the action and to the offensive phase, he actually lobbed a couple of good balls and pulled off some of his usual Gorilla runs.

Lichsteiner: 6. I think he is really fatigued at this stage of the season. He doesn’t seem energetic and tireless as usual, but he is excused of course, because he was probably the Juventino that run the most this season. Moreover, we know that on the flank much depend on the combination between the wingback and the central midfielder and he hasn’t played a lot with Padoin this year.

Padoin: 7. To be honest, I haven’t heard the commentator call his name a lot before the goal, he did so little, a soldatino performance not to get in the way of the others. However, he was in the right placed at the right time and his shot in the low angle was actually superb. The rule of the ex.

Marchisio: 6.5. The playmaker position could be his home for future, since Pirlo is staying and Juventus will not look for another creative man in that position. He is diligent, he anchors the midfield, allowing the others to attack more.

Pogba: 7.5. Under the eyes of his possible suitor Florentino Perez, Pogba officially regained his best form, he floated around the pitch, showing all his great flicks and delivering a Pogbomb close to the goal. Chocolate thunder.

Peluso: 6. I think he could actually be a good player even for a top 7 team (not for a Scudetto contender). You don’t see many fullback as powerful as he is and this is an advantage for his and he is also pretty fast for his size. He did job today, feet are what they are.

Osvaldo: 5.5. He tries and he tries hard, but the skills probably aren’t there, he is not as agile and fast as he thinks he is, he can’t dribble past all the opponents. €19 million are way too much for him, I don’t even know if I’d bring him back for 7-8.

Giovinco: 6. He provided the needed spark up front, he combine well with Osvaldo, he was fast in the counters. He had a couple of chances to score, but wasted them. Anyway, a good performance.

Quagliarella: 6.5. It was a difficult season for Fabio, but today he was all smiles. His pass to Tevez on the final action, where he clearly could have scored, was unexpected and a class act.

Tevez: 6. He didn’t play much, but when he entered the game it looked like all the squad changed its mentality and searched the win with more ferociousness. He should have buried the final chance.

Pepe: 7. Finally.