Juventus: 3 takeaways from 3-3 draw with Sassuolo
Juventus had another poor performance against Sassuolo, and fans are starting to get concerned.
After blowing a 2-0 lead against Milan and picking up an undeserved draw with Atalanta, Juventus continued their slump with a 3-3 draw on Wednesday night against Sassuolo. The Bianconeri had zero answers for Domenico Berardi and Sassuolo’s attack, as the home side dominated Juve, who blew a 2-0 lead and were fortunate to escape with a point.
Here are three takeaways from yet another subpar display from Maurizio Sarri’s men.
Sarri’s defense is an embarrassment
Juventus allowed three goals against Sassuolo, but if it weren’t for Wojciech Szczesny reminding everyone why he’s Serie A’s best keeper, they could have allowed double that amount. The defending was shocking for the third straight game, and the only statistic that matters is this one: Juve have surrendered nine goals in their last three games.
No matter who starts at center back, the defense has struggled recently. They looked good to start Serie A’s return against bottom-of-the-table sides like Lecce and Genoa, but against Serie A’s competitive teams, they have been an embarrassment.
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A lot of this is on Maurizio Sarri, who is receiving increasing criticism from fans after a second blown 2-0 lead in three games.
Paulo Dybala needs to start
Maurizio Sarri made a number of head-scratching lineup decisions for Wednesday’s game, but the worst involved benching Paulo Dybala. It was nice to see veteran striker Gonzalo Higuain on the pitch, and he even scored a goal after Miralem Pjanic sent him a lovely long ball.
But why was Dybala benched to bring in Higuain? Sarri should have benched Federico Bernardeschi, who has been one of the worst attacking players in all of Serie A this season.
Save for one strong performance against Bologna from out of nowhere, Bernardeschi has been a disaster. It’s not that Bernardeschi is talentless; it’s just that he doesn’t fit what Juve are trying to do at all.
Dybala, on the other hand, is the future. He is called La Joya for a reason. Play him in every game that he’s healthy, because he makes the difference for the Bianconeri.
Miralem Pjanic needs to be replaced properly
Juventus have traded Miralem Pjanic and 10 million euros to FC Barcelona for top target Arthur Melo, who will add a lot of ball-carrying and all-around attacking talent to a Juve midfield that needed it.
But Arthur isn’t actually a like-for-like replacement for Pjanic despite them both being center midfielders. And although Juve want Rodrigo Bentancur to be the new regista due to his defensive prowess, he isn’t quite like Pjanic either.
Next. Player Ratings from Juventus vs. Sassuolo. dark
Pjanic had two assists and five key passes, per WhoScored.com, on Wednesday night, leading the team (by far) in both categories. Say what you want about Pjanic’s lack of pace and poor defending, but he creates chances from nothing in midfield. Juve are selling him, but they need to find someone else who can replace that chance creation. Nobody else in their current squad can fill that role.