During the days of Alessandro Del Piero, a direct freekick for Juventus could have been worth a penalty kick.
The Bianconeri icon was simply one of the best freekick takers in his generation.
Even following his departure in 2012, the Old Lady possessed another dead-ball wizard in Andrea Pirlo.
Then, it was up to Paulo Dybala and Miralem Pjanic to deliver the goods, and both men excelled at it.
But following Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival in 2018, the club’s freekick stats suffered a major drop,
The Portuguese had been a freekick specialist during his time at Real Madrid, but in Turin, the majority of his attempts ended up hitting the defensive wall.
But despite his departure last summer, the numbers are yet to recover, with Dybala unable to score from the dead-ball situations thus far this season.
According to Tuttosport via JuventusNews24, the Bianconeri are yet to score from a direct freekick since Ronaldo’s effort against Torino in July 2020.
That was back when Maurizio Sarri was at the helm. Meaning that Pirlo’s tenure didn’t witness a single FK goal, and the same goes for Max Allegri since his return for a second spell.
Of course Juan Cuadrado scored a rare goal from a direct corner kick last month, but one would argue that luck was on his side.
The source explains that the lack of goals produced from dead-balls is one of the issues that has been harming the club.
Let’s hope that Dybala manages to recapture his freekick magic in 2022.
