Juventus: 3 takeaways from a 3-1 victory over Milan

Juventus defeated Milan 3-1 at the San Siro to stay afloat in the Serie A title race.

Behind 10 points in the table, Juventus needed to pick up all three points on the road against Milan. Key players were out for both sites, but since the Bianconeri have the most depth in Serie A, they liked their chances of coming away with the victory.

And they did exactly that. Unlike past matches, Juve were not carried by Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals, as the Capocannoniere favorite played more of a subdued role as a rough-and-tough creator. Instead, it was Federico Chiesa who broke out with a brace, building on the goal he scored that weekend in the 4-1 win over Udinese.

Here are three takeaways from this delightful, 3-1 victory for the Zebras.

Federico Chiesa and Weston McKennie are true building blocks

Federico Chiesa and Weston McKennie were the goal-scorers for Juventus on Matchday 16, stepping up under the bright lights of the San Siro to lead the Old Lady to victory.

There’s no doubt that Chiesa was the Man of the Match. His first goal was a well-taken finish, but his second was the true delight. There are few things more satisfying than watching a left-footed player curl one into the far corner. And Chiesa nearly had an even better goal earlier in the match, as his shot smacked the post.

McKennie’s goal was taken like a striker, as he found the cushion in the six-yard box and made no mistake with the finish. The American is so intelligent at finding space and working with his teammates. His intangibles are off the charts, and his ability to read the game makes him so successful on both ends of the pitch.

Juventus will surely keep these two young stars for a long, long time.

The Juventus defense shows its quality

Juventus should, in theory, have the best defense in Serie A. In practice, however, they are often their own worst enemies and punish themselves with mistakes. Juve had a few of those mistakes in this match, which we will get to later, but they came from the midfielders.

As a whole, the defense was excellent, and you cannot fault them for the goal they allowed, considering most neutral observers believed Hakan Calhanoglu fouled Adrien Rabiot to start the move.

Leonardo Bonucci has done a good job of responding since his embarrassing display against Fiorentina, and he and Matthijs de Ligt were solid together in the middle. Danilo started at right back and was tremendous in the tackle yet again. And at left back, Gianluca Frabotta did his job without fuss, showing why he is a quality contributor as a squad player.

We need to see more of this from Juve’s defense. This is the level they should be playing at pretty much each and every week.

But the Juventus midfield still has questions

Weston McKennie has been Juve’s best midfielders this season, and he’s honestly the only central midfielder worthy of high praise. Adrien Rabiot has his positive moments, but he’s probably too inconsistent to be a regular starter at a club like Juventus. New signing Arthur Melo has potential, but there’s a reason why he’s dropped out of Andrea Pirlo’s favored XI over the past month.

The real disappointment, to me, is Rodrigo Bentancur. He is so up-and-down and has shown so little signs of progress this season that I’m beginning to wonder if he has what it takes to be a big-game player for Juventus.

Bentancur was horrible on Matchday 16 and almost single-handedly cost his team. He was the only player who looked shaky defensively, and he is so, so lucky to not have gifted Milan a goal with his mind-numbingly woeful touches and passes. Bentancur’s head was in the clouds, and you could tell by his expression that he knew how fortunate he was not to have been sent off.

The Uruguayan midfielder played well against Udinese and is a solid contributor defensively, but he offers very little in attack. That was the same story for him in Juve’s win over Milan. Bentancur should feel the pressure, because, right now, I don’t know how you can justify him starting over McKennie or Rabiot in the big matches.