I hate those ugly 1-0 grinta wins, as I call them. They add way too much stress to one’s life. At the end of the day though, everything is fine as Juventus won. Now we just have another nerve-wracking 90 minutes coming up on Thursday, where Juventus need to score to prevent Fiorentina from winning the tie. Anyway, on to the ratings.

Buffon: 8. What a legend. Truly the best goalkeeper in the world, and probably the best of all time (sorry Dino Zoff.) He had an amazing save off of the Genoa penalty kick, and he made several saves in the run of play that were breath-taking. Buffon is an angel sent from above to save Juve.

Chiellini: 7. The guy was clearing everything. I like when Chiellini doesn’t have a monstrous opposing striker to mark (sorry, Alberto Gilardino) and can focus on the collective centerback trio.

Bonucci: 6.5. Not a special game from Leo, but not like he played poorly. Wasn’t as productive in the passing game but that seems to be a trend this year.

Caceres: 7. One of his best games in recent memory (perhaps since he played vs Real Madrid) he must have been doing a Barzagli impersonation because he was a wall today.

Lichtsteiner: 6. Fine in defense, but really lacking in attack today. Played like he did back when we first moved to 3-5-2 and he was uncomfortable being a wing back.

Isla (85′): s.v.

Asamoah: 7. Quietly had another good game. Didn’t create any chances though so at times he didn’t seem very present, but he was flawless. I am loving this top form Asamoah we have seen the past few weeks.

Pirlo: 8.5. No, you know what? 9. Maybe I am giving him too high of a rating but he won us the match. He was also basically our sole creator of attacking chances, barring that one Dani Osvaldo goal that Paul Pogba set up. Plus that was a beautiful free kick.

Pogba: 7. Started off slow but had a good match. Very nice play to create that chance for Osvaldo, would have an assist had it not wrongly been called offside. Also had a bit of a rocket that forced Perin to make a save, but then again he also took some crappy shots.

Vidal: 5.5 Woeful game from Arturo. Yellow card, gave up a penalty (he owes Gigi a kiss on the lips, to say thank you) and he barely even made any tackles. Very un-Vidalesque performance.

Padoin (85′): s.v. Says a lot about Vidal’s performance that he was taken off for Padoin.

Osvaldo: 6.5 Aside from the two goals (one truly offside, one offside only in the ref’s book) he wasn’t very good. But, a striker’s first job is to score, and he did.

Quagliarella (79′): 6. He won the foul that led to Pirlo’s game winning free kick. Basically an assist.

Llorente: 6. Did a good job holding up the ball and acting as a target man. That’s about all he did well with today.

Now, onto the Europa League. Let’s crush La Viola!