The Old Lady emerges victorious at Old Trafford

Manchester United hosted Juventus at home for matchday 3 of the Champions League. With an incredible performance by the team as a whole, Juventus were able to seal the win with a goal from Dybala.

As of now, Juve sit in the top of Group H with 9 points while United are second with 4 points. It’s very probable that the Old Lady will top this group as a result of their amazing start to the season. In 12 matches across all competitions, Juve has won 11 and tied the other. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to start the season.

What do the statistics tell us?

Attacking wise, Juventus were absolutely dominant. Despite United’s struggles this season, with the amount of talent they posses they are one of the best sides in Europe. To be able to create 14 chances at goal is no small task. More than double the chances United made.

Defensively, Juventus had a field day. The Old Lady was able to limit United to 6 shots with only 2 on target. This was achievable thanks to 10 interceptions, 12 successful aerial battles and 22 clearances along with the determination of the entire team.

I use the word “dominant” carefully because it carries a lot of weight. During this game, Juventus was exactly that: dominant. United only had a few flashes of greatness but struggled to capitalize in all of their chances. Amazing display by the Bianconeri.

The good

• For the first time in a while, I don’t have a big enough complaint for the performance of any Juve player to point out. It was a great team win where everybody did their part to secure all three points away.

• Dybala has come in clutch in the Champions League so far this season with 4 goals in 2 games. Near the beginning of the season, many were unfairly criticizing him and even suggesting he should be sold. Although, it didn’t take long at all for La Joya to prove his worth and shut the doubters up.

• Alex Sandro gave arguably his best performance in black and white. He was simply everywhere helping carry the ball forward or tracking back to defend. If this is a glimpse of what’s to come from him this season, alongside amazing performances by Cancelo on the opposite side of the pitch, Juventus can have arguably the best fullback duo in Europe. You heard it here first.

• When you watch your team play away, all you can ever really hear from the stands is the home side cheering or booing in their favor. Although, the Juve fans who attended the game made their voice heard in a spectacular way. Multiple times throughout the game you were able to hear them sing and support the team. It sent chills down my spine to hear this at Old Trafford. I really love the Juve community. We are family.

• At the end of it all, we beat the next best team in our group and look very likely to secure the top spot. This is something we can al be proud of.

The bad

• I found it extremely hard to think of anything bad that stood out to me. The only thing that came to mind was that I sincerely felt like we should have scored another two goals easily. That seems to be the only somewhat negative thing that went down. We will need to get better at finishing. I personally never feel safe unless my team is up by two goals. Thankfully 1 was enough to seal this game away but that might not be the case in the future. I know what we’re capable of though, so I’m not too worried about this.

Forza JUVE!