It was a tale of two halves for Juventus at the Artemio Franchi, as the Bianconeri came out very flat and got pinned back by Fiorentina in the first 45 minutes. They were more spirited after intermission and tied right away but did not manage to find a game-winner that would have been very handy as far as the Champions League race is concerned.
Alvaro Morata (4 points): he made things a little eerie a few seconds upon subbing in, hitting the net with a tremendous lefty curled shot and outperforming Paulo Dybala and Cristiano Ronaldo within a pair of touches. He attacked the space behind the back-line well, but the teammates did not find him with enough regularity to allow him to have an even bigger day. Dybala had just a couple of good runs through the middle, particularly ahead of Ramsey’s big chance, but was mostly engulfed. The Portuguese ace ripped off some vintage sprints down the left wing that led to interesting actions but, clearly, the whiff on the point-blank header that would have almost certainly decided the match is one of the worst mistakes since he moved Turin, especially because he did not have time to redeem himself, differently from other circumstances.
Juan Cuadrado (2 points): Andrea Pirlo shook things up in the back going with his top three center-backs, but, while the Old Lady did not concede on open play, things did not seem to improve too much compared to the usual as the opponents too often arrived in shooting position unabated. The Colombian dynamo has basically become half of the offense with Federico Chiesa on the shelf, and the same remained true in this one, where he whipped in multiple sharp crosses and connected with Alvaro Morata with a wicked long ball on the goal.
Rodrigo Bentancur: the Uruguayan youngster finally played a completely convincing and energetic game in what has been mostly a so-so season for him, where he has failed to take a step forward. He was everywhere defensively and could have easily come away with an assist on a gorgeous feed for Aaron Ramsey, who squandered it in front of the goalie, but also late on a forceful recuperation and low-drive cross. The ex-Gunner had a confusing display, misplaced too many passes, and was not a factor in the final third. Adrien Rabiot had a mental mistake on the penalty kick and did not manage to make up for it even though he was decent gritty. Weston McKennie and Dejan Kulusevski fared better off the bench, the latter in particular, as he combined well with Cuadrado and came inch’s close to setting up a late goal.
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