Juventus are missing their shutdown center back Matthijs de Ligt

Juventus had a rough outing defensively in their last match, but they are playing without their main man, Matthijs de Ligt.

Matthijs de Ligt is recovering from a dislocated shoulder that will cost him the first couple of months of the 2020-2021 Serie A season. The Juventus center back was crucial to the Old Lady winning the league title last season, holding the defense together as the team’s top center back, clearly outclassing the likes of Leonardo Bonucci and Daniele Rugani.

By the end of the season, Juve were already down one promising young center back in Merih Demiral, who has been frozen out of the lineup in favor of Danilo, Bonucci, and the returning Giorgio Chiellini despite his own impressive performances in 2019-2020 as a first-year Juventus player.

Perhaps Demiral will get more chances under Andrea Pirlo as the 2020-2021 Serie A season continues, but, for now, he is a backup. Even so, Juventus are still missing a sure-fire starter in de Ligt.

The Dutch defender was the best defender in the league in the final matches of 2019-2020, making key recoveries and smart clearances. He even scored a wondergoal against Udinese that was erased. Yes, he was the last man on the winning goal for Udinese, but note that he was the last man. There were so many times last season where he was the only defender anywhere near the action.

Matthijs de Ligt is one of the league’s best for Juventus

Against Roma, the poor reading of the game from Bonucci was exposed. A great center back on the ball who is lacking in his discipline, Bonucci was a major liability, constantly losing sight of Roma’s lone goal-scoring threat, Edin Dzeko.

De Ligt has been missed. He seems to be targeted for an early November return against last season’s title “contenders” Lazio (air quotes because nobody legitimately threatened the Old Lady’s Serie A monopoly last season either), which means Juventus, assuming the league season still continues, will be without the Dutch star for a little bit longer.

Danilo has played well. Chiellini is still great. Bonucci, in fairness to him, is a good player despite his frustrating mistakes. But de Ligt is a different class than them athletically, already with leadership qualities on par with Chiellini despite his young age. De Ligt is a warrior in the Juventus tradition with that little bit of extra juice that sets him apart from even the established elite center backs in Serie A.

He is one of the world’s finest center backs – a player who can shut down the very best forwards in the league and make up for errors elsewhere. When de Ligt returns, the Bianconeri’s defense will be whole. But until then, Pirlo is working short-handed.