Max Allegri rotated the squad, giving first starts to Douglas Costa, Blaise Matuidi and a debut to Federico Bernardeschi as Juventus delivered a confident 3-0 victory against Chievo.
Player Ratings
Wojciech Szczęsny: Made a fantastic stop in the first half, almost Gigi-esque, truly a superb reaction to parry the effort. Made some routine saves and his positioning and confidence in claiming the ball gave reason for optimism. Great debut. 7.0/10
Stephan Lichtsteiner: Wore the captains armband tonight and turned in a decent display, covering the right well, putting in some good crosses here and there, overlapping with Costa on occasion. 6.0/10
Daniele Rugani: Controlled, measured and confident – Did very well on the ball, kept the Chievo attack relatively quiet, restricting them to a few shots from outside the box. 6.5/10
Medhi Benatia: Looked a little shaky at times, some wayward passing, but did really well to clear Szczesny’s parried shot away from the oncoming Pucciarelli before really coming into the game and commanding the box. 6.5/10
Kwadwo Asamoah: Brilliant with some of his clearances, some true grinta on display, battling well against Pucciarelli and Castro. Some poor passing at times but his linkup with Matuidi was promising. 6.5/10
Stefano Sturaro: Did what he needed to do with a minimum of fuss. Had a good chance from outside the box deflected. Made some good tackles, covered well enough in midfield to give Pjanic the freedom needed to see the best of him. 6.0/10
Miralem Pjanic: Seemed all the freer for having Matuidi/Sturaro next to him – Roamed the pitch and orchestrated the play superbly, fired in the free-kick that led to the opener and had a great effort skim the woodwork. Provided a sublime assist for Higuain’s goal, showing great vision to find the Argentine. 7.5/10
Blaise Matuidi: An impressive first half, sprinting end to end, trying to create chances in attack and working hard in the midfield to break up Chievo’s play. A tireless engine and a strong, efficient display. Should be starting in the Juve XI. 7.0/10
Douglas Costa: A very quiet first half, but not for want of trying. Some good deliveries into the box, some good runs, but it’s clear he needs time to adapt to Serie A. 6.0/10
Mario Mandzukic: Anonymous for parts of the game, covered well on the left and connected well with Asamoah but never really imposed himself on the game. 6.0/10
Gonzalo Higuain: A typically ‘Higuain’ performance – Quiet for 45 minutes before exploding into life early in the second half to score Juve’s second with an emphatic finish. 6.5/10
Substitutes
Paulo Dybala: Replaced Douglas Costa early in the second half and Juve looked all the better for having him on the pitch. Made a beautiful run into the box, beating 3 men before being blocked off – Had a number of half chances before finding the net with a nice finish – His 7th goal in 4 games. Unreal. 7.0/10
Federico Bernardeschi: Finally made his Juve debut and looked lively as soon as he entered the pitch. Made a fantastic run down the right before laying of off for Dybala to score Juve’s 3rd. A great start to his Juve career. 6.0/10
Rodrigo Bentacur: A brief cameo. N/A
Dybala looks a whole different player. Waltz passed defenders and again was the bridge in our attack. Bernar came in and made things even better. The two will be magic together.
Matuidi is proving to be an excellent signing. Endless running, effective passing and hard tackler.
This team is stacked.
Long time no see my old friend. How are you doing these days, what are you up to and what happened to that movie train we launched all those years ago =D?
Ayy, im good. I moved out of state then moved back, still finding time for footy and been enjoying Juves rise to the top of european football. Obviously left with a broken heart at the start of summer b due to that horrific night in Cardiff, but the seasons new and theres a lot to look forward to.
Been wanting to travel, explore the world and hopefully catch a game in the J Stadium. Seriously considering traveling and watch a Cl game at our beloved stadio in 2018.
Other than that nothing too exciting. How are you? Arent you glad Mandzukic didnt go to china and scored rhat wonder goal instead 😉
And i still remember the movie train. Last movie i saw was annabelle. Wasnt that scary to me. I actually anticipating jeepers creepers 3.
A few observations from my side:
I loved the way Pjanic was involved in the match. He is by far better of playing on a 3 man middfield, with players covering fôr
Love this webblog ,accurate and catchy
BENTANCUR is exactly what we been missing past couple of seasons he’s movement without the ball is excellent he’s a genius player and im glad he’s wearing the famous black and white shirt