Juventus at Udinese: 3 players who must step up with Leonardo Bonucci suspended

Juventus won’t have experienced center back Leonardo Bonucci available on Thursday evening at Udinese.

Although Juventus defeated Lazio 2-1 to all but seal the Scudetto, the Bianconeri haven’t been at their best lately. They needed two Cristiano Ronaldo goals and a marvelous performance from Paulo Dybala, who wasn’t originally scheduled to start, to beat Lazio.

Thursday’s opponent Udinese will be easier, but honestly only marginally so. Here are three players who must step up for the Bianconeri with Leonardo Bonucci suspended after picking up another yellow card on Monday – one that allowed a penalty and let Lazio back in the game.

CB Daniele Rugani

Daniele Rugani has struggled mightily in Leonardo Bonucci’s or Matthijs de Ligt’s place when asked to play, either against Milan or Sassuolo. The 25-year-old will almost certainly start for Bonucci on Thursday at Udinese, since Giorgio Chiellini isn’t fully healthy and Merih Demiral probably needs a little more time before he can officially return.

More from Old Juve

• Juventus beat Udinese 3-0 in first match of the season
• Team previews: Will Juventus’ attack fulfill its potential?
• Team Previews: Juventus midfielders need to show growth this year
• Team previews: Juventus defenders look ready to compete for Scudetto
• Leonardo Bonucci may be leaving Juventus soon

Rugani should be better than this. At this point, he should be an ascending center back ready to become a key player for Juventus. Instead, he’s one of the team’s worst players and will likely be transferred if he doesn’t take advantage of his remaining few opportunities.

LB Alex Sandro

While Alex Sandro bailed out Juve against Sassuolo by scoring a late equalizer and then clearing Sassuolo’s potential winning goal off the line, the experienced Brazilian left back hasn’t been playing well since returning from injury.

He’s just not adding enough in the attack, and he isn’t convincing defensively either.

Per WhoScored.com, he was dribbled on three times by Lazio on Monday. Sandro is another player who needs to close out the season strongly, otherwise he will be replaced this summer by a younger and better starting left back.

GK Wojciech Szczesny

Wojciech Szczesny has bailed out Juve in back-to-back games. The Bianconeri would have allowed more than five goals with another keeper between the posts, as Szczesny made brilliant save after brilliant save to keep Juve in the game. And then he made a stunning free-kick save late against Lazio to preserve the 2-1 lead, ensuring Juventus would pick up the full three points in a key matchup.

Without Leonardo Bonucci available and with the defense potentially set to take another nosedive on Thursday at Udinese, Szczesny will be tasked with making more huge saves to lead the Old Lady to victory. He’s the best keeper in Serie A and has shown it recently, but the challenges will keep coming for the Polish goalkeeper.