Juventus remain undefeated with 2-1 win over Sassuolo

With both teams having entered the match undefeated so far this season, Juventus walked out as the only one left. Thanks to a brace by Ronaldo and a decent overall performance by the team, we were able to once again walk away with our heads held high.

Lineups

Juventus: 4-3-1-2

Substitutions

61’ Costa in - Mandzukic out

71’ Bentancur in - Can out

80’ Cuadrado in - Sandro out

Dybala finally won a starting role again. When Juventus deploys a 4-3-3 formation, Dybala is unfortunately out of position anywhere he is placed unless especial instructions are given. The 4-3-1-2 is the best formation to fit him in since he’s at his best when playing from deep. While I personally prefer the 4-3-3 thanks to the balance it provides, I don’t mind a different one if it means Dybala can play. I also think this formation helped Ronaldo score his brace. In a 4-3-3, Ronaldo has been placed on the left wing to allow Mandzukic to play in his natural central role. In a 4-3-1-2, he doesn’t have to run into the box as much from the left flank since he’s placed more centrally which seems to fit his style of play best. I hope this means we use this formation more often with Dybala as a starter.

The only thing I was a little uncomfortable with was replacing Sandro with Cuadrado. When this happened, Cancelo switched to left back to let Cuadrado play on the right. It seems Allegri really wants to give Cuadrado experience as a fullback. I’m all for having players be back up to certain positions but I really hope we don’t see this happen often. I don’t think Cuadrado’s defensive capabilities are enough. I like him a lot better as a right midfielder where his pace is deadly in the buildup.

Sassuolo: 4-3-3

Substitutions

61’ Di Francesco in - Djuricic out

72’ Dell’Orco in - Rogerio out

83’ Babacar in - Locatelli out

In their last three games prior to today, Sassuolo scored a total of 8 goals and conceding 6. While their attack has been showing up, they have been very poor when defending. Today they managed a total of 15 shots on goal with only 5 on target. This formation fits them very well, they were able to find the wide spaces to attack from. Juventus must do a better job in midfield. If we let sides of better quality find the kind of spaces Sassuolo had, we will be in trouble.

The good

• The entire world will finally stop mentioning Ronaldo’s lack of goals having scored a brace. Ronaldo consistently placed himself in very good positions to score from. This isn’t surprising, he is one of the best in the world after all. Although I couldn’t help but be amazed by his performance. It still hasn’t kicked in that we actually have him now.

• Cancelo had his best match for Juventus so far in my opinion. He was great going forward and tracking back when the situation called for. I don’t think we could’ve gotten a better replacement at right back. He’s definitely going to be an important player going into the future.

• Can definitely deserved a chance to start for Juve and showed why he should continue to start. His work rate is great, he was constantly making his way upfield and tracking back to defend. His passing was very impressive having made 41 passes with 87% accuracy. To top it all off, he assisted Ronaldo’s second goal. He was our best midfielder on the field today.

• The most important thing is that Juve walked away with a win. We are now the only undefeated team in Serie A and I don’t see this changing soon. Our next three Serie A matches are against Frosinone, Bologna and Napoli. No offense to intended to their fans, but I think realistically speaking only Napoli pose a real threat.

The bad

• Douglas Costa’s behavior towards the end of the match was completely unnecessary. Even if he was or wasn’t the one that started it. Shoves and face-to-face confrontations are the usual, although spitting on his face was overboard. I hope to never see this kind of poor behavior from him again. Even if we have enough depth in the squad to afford a game without him, it’s disrespectful to the fans and teammates to act this way. Juventus players must carry themselves with class and always do what’s in the best interests of the team.

• Our midfield was once again the biggest issue. It wasn’t horrible by any means but against tougher opposition, we must do better. Having rested Pjanic on the bench was definitely noticeable but we can’t depend on one midfielder to make up for everyone else. Khedira was by far the worst one in midfield. At times, I completely forgot he was even in the game due to his lack of presence. Since it’s guaranteed at this point that he will continue to be a starter, I just hope Allegri doesn’t consistently feature him in UCL matches.

Team Statistics

Overall, I'm happy we are consistently scoring. In each Serie A game so far, we have scored at least two goals. If this can be replicated in UCL matches, we'll have the chance to go far into the competition. We still have some things to work on but as the season progresses, I'm sure we'll continue to adapt.

Thanks for reading.

Forza Juve!