Juventus: 5 players crucial to a last-ditch Serie A title push

CB Matthijs de Ligt

But Juve’s best young player is undoubtedly Matthijs de Ligt. The Dutch central defender joined from Ajax for a massive fee, and he has proven to be worth every penny to the Bianconeri – and then some. De Ligt is a guy who can lead an organization for years and years to come, and he has the potential to become an astonishingly good, all-around center back a la Real Madrid’s No. 4 Sergio Ramos.

The 21-year-old has been very good this season, but you get the feeling his star power could stand to shine more, especially with the ball at his feet. Maybe a backs-to-the-wall job following the Napoli loss could lead us to see the very best of de Ligt in the season’s remaining months.

FW Cristiano Ronaldo

We close with the superstar of the squad, Cristiano Ronaldo. In truth, there isn’t much the 36-year-old can do that he hasn’t done already. He is Serie A’s best goal-scorer with 16 in 18 matches, and you often get the feeling that he should have quite a few more goals than that if more of his teammates were offering juicier passes.

As it stands, it seems like Alvaro Morata and Juan Cuadrado are his only top providers. And Ronaldo isn’t just the team’s leading scorer; he is also the team’s leader in dribbles completed. So he is often creating his own chances or trying to work inches of space against the opposition’s tight low blocks.

Ronaldo could stand to be more clinical, though, and his leadership and continued excellence in front of goal will be necessary to an unlikely comeback for the Scudetto. Juventus are ride-or-die with the No. 7 at this point, and Juventini have to look to him as the man who can produce and get the team to soar.