Juventus vs.Udinese Takeaways: Aaron Ramsey shows his importance

Juventus defeated Udinese 4-1 on Serie A’s Matchday 15 at the Allianz Stadium to get their 2021 off to the right start.

After a humiliating loss to Fiorentina, which was easily their worst defeat of the 2020-2021 season, Juventus bounced back in an important way at home by defeating Rodrigo De Paul’s Udinese 4-1.

Before Juve get ready to face league leaders AC Milan on Wednesday night, let’s take a look at three takeaways from this win over Udinese.

Cristiano Ronaldo is world-class again

Cristiano Ronaldo was the one man who truly played well at Fiorentina, as he shined despite his team’s tremendous failings in that loss. In this game, he was even better and on the winning side this time, as he scored twice and provided an outside-the-boot through ball assist for Federico Chiesa that was even more exquisite than his, for him, straightforward finishes.

Ronaldo is by far the best player in Serie A, and he is widening the gap between himself and second-best with each passing performance. Whenever you watch Juventus, you cannot help but be awestruck by how the 35-year-old continues to leave defenders in the dust.

Aaron Ramsey is important to Juventus this season

Aaron Ramsey was not consistent in his first season in Turin, and the injuries are the main thing holding him back. Because when he is on the pitch, Ramsey is Juve’s most creative player and puts in the hard work defensively to turn defense into attack.

He did just that for Juve’s first goal vs. Udinese, setting up Ronaldo on a platter for the Portuguese legend’s opener. Ramsey could have had a goal of his own if it weren’t for an unlucky handball call. The Wales international, per WhoScored.com, had three shots on target and two key passes as a left-sided midfielder. He was class in this win and must continue to be a priority player for new manager Andrea Pirlo.

The defense will not have it this easy against Milan

Juventus should have kept a clean sheet against Udinese, and while they only allowed the one late goal, they should not see this victory as a boost of confidence for their unit. A handball call prevented the Bianconeri from going down 1-0 early, as their defense was cut to shreds by a rather simple Rodrigo De Paul-led counterattack. Udinese hit the bar a further two times before more sloppy defending led to their eventual goal.

Milan are a juggernaut offensively with Rafael Leao and Zlatan Ibrahimovic among the forwards, Theo Hernandez running up and down the left flank, Hakan Calhanoglu creating chances, and still more players contributing to the Rossoneri’s well-rounded attack.

If Juventus are to defeat Serie A’s top team this Wednesday, they must be more composed defensively than they were on Sunday night at the Allianz Stadium against Udinese.