Juventus: 3 takeaways from a tough draw with Crotone

Juventus could not get the full three points on the road against Crotone without Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala in the lineup.

The Bianconeri knew they could be in for a tough matchup on Saturday night, even against Crotone, as they were without a few key players in Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala, and Weston McKennie. Plus, center backs Giorgio Chiellini and Matthijs de Ligt were out with injuries.

Here are three takeaways after the 1-1 draw.

Juventus are still lacking urgency in the attack

Although Juve’s 3-0 win in the opener against Sampdoria was highly encouraging, the Bianconeri have not looked nearly as impressive since then, particularly as an attacking side. They scored twice against Roma, yes, but one goal was a penalty and the other a sensational header from the penalty scorer, Ronaldo. 

Juve looked a lot like the Juve of last year under Maurizio Sarri against Crotone, in the sense that there was too much sideways passing and not enough urgency, even at the end of the game. A backpass with two minutes left and the game at 1-1? Not an ideal move for Juventus.

The positives in the attack are clear, and Juve were, again, playing without their two superstar forwards. But it’s telling that they only had two shots on target in this one. Andrea Pirlo must be doing more as a manager.

Federico Chiesa has positive Juventus debut despite red card

Federico Chiesa’s reaction to his red card said it all. Everyone was shocked when the referee made the decision to send him off after a bang-bang play. Yes, Chiesa caught his opponent with his cleats, but a red card was a harsh decision, considering it all happened so fast. Chiesa clearly did not intend to cause harm, which would have been the reason for a straight red.

In any case, the red card hurt Juventus’ chances of a comeback victory, but the booking should not overshadow Chiesa’s talent on the field. The debuting Fiorentina loanee, who will be a permanent addition to the Bianconeri one day, made a big impact.

Chiesa’s hard work, crossing, and energy will add so much to Juventus. Per WhoScored.com, he was second on the team behind fellow young wide player Dejan Kulusevski with three key passes and tied Rodrigo Bentancur for the team lead with four tackles. Now that’s called making an all-around impact.

Can’t judge Juventus without Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala

All the individual performances weren’t bad in this game. Chiesa played well, as did Rodrigo Bentancur. Alvaro Morata should have had a second goal, if it weren’t for a millimeter offside decision. And there were other bright displays, such as Arthur Melo and then Juan Cuadrado coming off the bench.

But at the end of the day, Juventus dropped points to a bottom-table side and did not look like a cohesive team offensively. Part of that is due to some tactical issues, but most of it is due to the need for improved team chemistry with so many new faces.

Finally, it’s hard to truly get a feel for how good Juventus are when their best two players aren’t on the pitch. Ronaldo and Dybala were instrumental in the Old Lady claiming the Serie A title last season despite all of their problems. So you can only imagine how much better Juve will be in the long run with those two stars in the lineup and the youngsters clicking around them. We can’t react too much to these last two games, especially this 1-1 draw with Crotone.