Juventus vs. Barcelona Player Ratings: It could have been worse

Juventus turned in a poor performance at home against Barcelona in the Champions League without Cristiano Ronaldo in the team.

Last week, Juventus made short work of Dynamo Kyiv in their 2020-2021 Champions League opener, taking all three points at home in a 2-0 victory. But this week, the Bianconeri did not meet the demands of a step-up in competition against Barcelona, falling 2-0.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Juve can’t come soon enough. Here are the player ratings from another poor performance by Andrea Pirlo’s men. And yes, Pirlo deserves the brunt of the criticism for this loss.

GK Wojciech Szczesny

This game would have been worse than a 2-0 defeat without Szczesny in between the posts. His finest moment came when he threw himself at the feet of Ousmane Dembele, which eventually led to Antoine Griezmann fluffing the ensuing chance. Szczesny’s bravery in goal and steady hand were important again.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

LB Danilo

Brazilian defender Danilo has played well as a center back in Andrea Pirlo’s back three so far this season, as Pirlo has deputized the former Real Madrid and Manchester City man in this position with Matthijs de Ligt injured. Danilo was the only defender who had a great game and tried to carry the team with a jaw-dropping eight tackles and four interceptions, per WhoScored.com.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10

CB Leonardo Bonucci

Leonardo Bonucci had one of the better performances of the season for Juventus. He could do nothing about either goal and was very good with his passing. Bonucci completed 10 of 13 long balls and about 90 percent of his passes, playing a composed role in between Danilo and Merih Demiral.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

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

CB Merih Demiral

After being a standout performer for Juve in the past few games, Merih Demiral was culpable in the loss for making a poor decision to get himself sent off. He lost the ball and then stuck his leg out in an effort to win the ball back, getting nowhere near the ball. Demiral led the team with 77 pass attempts and completed about 96 percent of them, but his red card undid some of that work.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

RB Juan Cuadrado

A consistently solid performer for Juventus, Juan Cuadrado deserved an assist in this game. The Colombian wide man was decent in defense, calm with his passing, and drew four fouls with two dribbles completed. He is the all-around man for the Bianconeri.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

CM Rodrigo Bentancur

The highlight of Rodrigo Bentancur’s game was his two interceptions, because, otherwise, he was quite poor. Bentancur has not played well in 2020-2021 thus far, offering very little in attack. He was slopping with his passing and is at risk of being relegated to the bench if he does not step up.

Rating: 5.0 out of 10

CM Adrien Rabiot

Adrien Rabiot missed one of the best chances of the game for Juve, lashing a left-footed shot wide with acres of space in front of him. The French midfielder has been great for Juventus since the summer, but he hasn’t turned in his best performances in the past couple of matches. That said, Rabiot’s defending has been impressive, as he stuck in for five tackles and two interceptions.

Rating: 6.0 out of 10

LW Federico Chiesa

Fiorentina loanee Federico Chiesa has put together some bright moments for Juventus in his first games with the club, but this match was one to forget. The deflection for Ousmane Dembele’s goal was unlucky and the result of a good strike from the former Dortmund man, but Chiesa’s attacking influence was dreadful. He drew four fouls, but, otherwise, barely got into the game and had a below-average final ball. There will be better days for Chiesa.

Rating: 5.0 out of 10

RW Dejan Kulusevski

Likewise, the talented young winger on the other side of the formation had a surprisingly poor outing for Juventus vs. Barcelona. Kulusevski ran himself ragged, but he lost energy too quickly. He barely completed over three-quarters of his pass attempts and lost the ball more than he completed dribbles. Juve need more from Kulusevski, because he is one of the best attacking wide players in Serie A.

Rating: 4.5 out of 10

AM Paulo Dybala

The most disappointing player on the pitch, and it’s not even close. Paulo Dybala was Juve’s de facto superstar in this Champions League fixture with Cristiano Ronaldo out, but the forward was practically invisible against Lionel Messi and La Blaugrana. Dybala had zero key passes, zero dribbles completed, and zero shots on target. Those stats sum up how dire he was.

Rating: 3.0 out of 10

ST Alvaro Morata

Literally, the only player who showed up for Juve’s attack and the best man on the pitch for the Bianconeri. Sure, Morata could do a better job of staying onside, but it’s very unlucky to have this man goals disallowed for a small portion of a body part being offsides. VAR has not been kind to Morata, who would have won Juventus a point today without the video assistant. More importantly from the Juventini’s perspective, Morata never stops fighting for the team.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10