For the third consecutive season, the Champions League journey of Juventus ends abruptly before reaching the final phases. The Bianconeri put in a lot of effort in a marathon with Porto, but ultimately got bit by an abhorrent start, frenzy and lack of attention to detail, wasting an opportunity that was surely within reach.

Federico Chiesa: the clear man of the match in both contests as, after keeping the hopes alive in the first one, he spearheaded the assault after the disadvantage, bagging two terrific goals and constantly pushing the envelope. He was the true leader on the pitch, took on most of the responsibilities and delivered with a piledriver in the top corner and a clutch header. The Old Lady got a lot out of their midfielders in this one as Arthur properly pulled the strings and orchestrated the offense while he had still the legs to do so, while Adrien Rabiot re-opened the match in the extra time with a great header on a corner kick after what was in general a pretty decent display. Continue reading →

Despite the shocking start in each half where they literally gave away two goals amid a very lackadaisical performance, Juventus maintained their qualification hopes alive in the Porto clash thanks to a late push that culminated in a vital score by Federico Chiesa.

Chiesa: the Italian winger bagged it with an accurate strike, and who knows whether he intended to do that or if it was just a lucky bounce, but the trajectory ended up being just perfect considering the bodies in between. However, the whole action would have not been possible without a very clever cut down the flank by the Frenchman and an impeccable low-driven cross. He also produced the only other major chance for the Bianconeri, forcing the opposing goalie into a difficult save with an acrobatic kick.  Continue reading →

Juventus pulled off the upset and exacted revenge on a shell-shocked Barcelona, snatching the first spot in their Champions League group thanks to their best performance of the season.

Gianluigi Buffon: everybody needs to do their part to keep a clean sheet at Camp Nou and any defender could have been deserving of the nod. Leonardo Bonucci almost put the nail in the coffin late and was quietly impressive, while Danilo and Matthijs De Ligt were extremely aggressive in the duels, also far away from their own box, which often set the tone. But the shout-out goes to the ageless wonder, who was given a maybe final spotlight by coach and answered the bell whenever he was called into action, in particular on the numerous sharp attempts by Lionel Messi. Continue reading →

In a glorified friendly with Dynamo Kyiv, Juventus survived the usual midgame lull and cruised their way to a three-nil victory, which however does not put them any closer to the first spot as Barcelona were successful as well versus Ferencvarosi.

Alex Sandro: a vintage performance on offense for the Brazilian fullback, who attacked at will and came up with a quality assist for Federico Chiesa thanks to a soft and well-placed cross. He has seen limited playing time so far because of a major thigh injury, so it will be interesting to see what role the new regime has in store for him. Second-best in the back was Wojciech Szczesny since he had a monster save to avoid the equalizer in the first half, furiously shooting the gap on a wide-open opponent. Ordinary business for Leonardo Bonucci and Merih Demiral, who played slightly out of position but held his own, while Matthijs De Ligt was not as on point as in other circumstances and all in all was not required to do too much. Continue reading →