Well, it wasn’t the most impressive of results, but it was just enough to seal the deal.
Against all odds, Juventus ended their Champions League group stage campaign at the very top of goup H thanks their slight 1-0 win over Malmo, but most importantly due to Chelsea’s thrilling 3-3 draw in Russia.
So despite getting hammered by four goals at the Stamford Bridge two weeks ago, the Bianconeri finished two points ahead of the Blues.
But let’s focus on the action in Turin in our three takeaways from the Old Lady’s victory over the Swedish champions.
A Regista in the Making
Arthur Melo is now 25-years-old, meaning that he’s no longer a mere youngster, but a player who should be about to enter the peak years of his career.
So while his development might be relatively slow considering his age, it still feels that the Brazilian has much more to offer.
The former Barcelona man put up a solid performance as a midfield anchor on Wednesday, passing the ball with ease and controlling the tempo, taking advantage from his opponents’ mediocre level and their deep pressing which gave him all the time and space that he needed.
It was definitely an encouraging outing for Arthur, but he needs to reaffirm it against better opponents.
Hidden Class
Since his arrival to Turin in 2017, we’ve all been wondering how and why Federico Bernardeschi lost his immense talent.
The winger became a shade of the brilliant young star who took Italy by storm during his time at Fiorentina.
However, the 27-year-old once again proved that his class never escaped him, but it’s just hidden underneath his mostly underwhelming performances.
Against Malmo, we saw it all. The Italian delivered a breath-taking assist for Moise Kean who scored the lone goal. It was an inch-perfect cross with the outside of the foot.
Fede was the most inspiring Juventus player throughout the first half, and even had his moments in the second, but we also saw his other side by the end, wasting some good opportunities with his lack of focus.
And yet, Juventus fans will be willing to forgive his occasional lapses if he continues to put up generally impressive performances like this one.
A Failed Experiment
After the halftime break, Alvaro Morata replaced Paulo Dybala. It was one of the rare occasions when the Spaniard joined forces with Kean.
While most of us would have expected the Italian to lean towards the wing, it was Morata who was mostly playing on the outside.
It appears that Max Allegri was trying to recreate Mario Mandzukic’s role who used to support Gonzalo Higuain from the left side, but Alvaro wasn’t truly effective in this role, mostly failing to deliver dangerous balls after cutting inside.
Now surely 45 minutes shouldn’t be enough to rule out the whole experiment and call it a failure, but if when it doesn’t work against the humble Malmo, we can only imagine the situation against more accomplished opposition.