Juventus traveled to the Sardegna Arena on Matchday 27 in Serie A, needing to produce a strong display on the road in order to make up for their elimination in the Champions League. With rivals Inter Milan performing well, the pressure is on Juve to be perfect in this title race, and they managed to get the job done with a 3-1 win over Cagliari.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the clear star of the show, putting three past Alessio Cragno in just 32 minutes. One with his head, one from the spot with his right, and one world-class thunderbolt with his left foot for a perfect hat-trick in a mere half-hour.
Talk about a statement.
Juventus slipped in the second half and allowed a goal, as they were thoroughly outplayed by a fiery home side in the second 45. But they held on to pick up the points they needed.
Here are the full player ratings from the 3-1 victory on Matchday 27.
GK Wojciech Szczesny
The Juve goalkeeper did not have much to do, and he could not be blamed for the goal Cagliari scored against him. All told, it was a fairly average performance from Szczesny, but he’ll take it. A mistake-free match after the elimination to Porto was what the Polish international needed.
Rating: 6.0
LB Federico Bernardeschi
Federico Bernardeschi gets the rating at the left back position, because Brazilian Alex Sandro went down with an injury after about 30 minutes.
The former Fiorentina man played reasonably well at the left back position last week in a 3-1 win over Lazio, and he was not bad against Cagliari either. Per WhoScored.com, Bernardeschi completed two dribbles, and his hard work helped the team on the left-hand side, as per usual.
Rating: 6.5
CB Giorgio Chiellini
Giorgio Chiellini had one of the highlights of the match from a defensive perspective when he flew in and intercepted a cross, clearing it on the run with his head. The Italian legend shows his class in most games he starts.
He made his way for Leonardo Bonucci in the second half, having done his job. Juventus are a better team when Chiellini plays.
Rating: 7.0
CB Matthijs de Ligt
A quiet game for Matthijs de Ligt, which is generally a good thing when a defender is concerned. The Dutch international recorded three interceptions and six clearances to lead the team in both categories, and he had a good game with the ball at his feet. De Ligt has become one of the most consistent players in world football.
Rating: 7.0
RB Juan Cuadrado
Juan Cuadrado grabbed an assist for the opener, hitting Cristiano Ronaldo with a perfect delivery. He’s been money all season long when it comes to setting up the superstar forward. The Colombian was so close to a second assist, but Federico Chiesa just could not get on the end of his low cross.
Defensively, Cuadrado fought hard, especially when helping out against Cagliari’s star up top, Joao Pedro. He had two interceptions, though he did get booked for a challenge on the Brazilian striker and will miss next week’s match against Benevento.
Rating: 7.0
LM Federico Chiesa
The second-best player on the pitch after Cristiano Ronaldo, Federico Chiesa continues to be a revelation for the Black and Whites. He led the way with four key passes and grabbed an assist on Ronaldo’s third goal, sharply hitting him with a pass into the penalty box from the other side of the final third.
Chiesa’s vision and energy are excellent, and he has been Juve’s best overall player in the last couple of months. Cagliari had no answers for the 23-year-old, who is already one of the best players in Italian football.
Rating: 8.0
CM Adrien Rabiot
The French midfielder made some decisive interventions in and around his own penalty box, working hard defensively alongside Danilo to stop the charge of Cagliari. He even started a couple of counterattacks while winning the ball in the middle of the park. In this game, his lack of offensive involvement was not really a matter of concern for the Bianconeri, who already had the game sewn up early.
Rating: 6.5
CM Danilo
After shining last week against Lazio in his first start as a defensive midfielder by shutting down Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Danilo took a bit of a step back against Cagliari. While he didn’t play poorly, the veteran defender made a mistake by failing to mark Giovanni Simeone on what ended up being Cagliari’s lone goal of the afternoon. Still, Danilo had some nice passes, led the team in passes attempted, and made five defensive interventions.
Rating: 6.5
RM Dejan Kulusevski
We really need to see more from Dejan Kulusevski. The Swedish international had some nice moments with the ball at his feet, winning a couple of dribble and fouls while making incisive plays in the final third. But he was also a bit wasteful and faded as the game wore on, which has been a common theme so far in the 2020-2021 season.
Rating: 6.0
FW Alvaro Morata
Alvaro Morata got into so many dangerous positions, and I am shocked he did not score a goal given that he had about three great chances. Credit to the talented forward for getting into those positions, but nothing really came off for him. For that reason, he gets the lowest rating of anyone on the pitch. Juventus could have won by even more if Morata had more composure in the final third, which has been his only real weakness in what has been an excellent season with the Bianconeri thus far.
Rating: 5.0
FW Cristiano Ronaldo
We must wax poetic about this perfect performance from Cristiano Ronaldo. Well, it was nearly perfect. He did get a yellow card, miss a clear chance at the very end of the match, and misplace a pass to a through-on-goal Alvaro Morata.
These minor imperfections aside, Ronaldo was majestic in a match that served as a statement from him to the world. Questions were asked of him after two poor performances against Porto in the Champions League, which shocked fans. He answered them on Sunday at the Sardegna Arena, scoring a perfect hat-trick.
All three goals were excellent in their own way. The first was a trademark header, as Ronaldo hesitated before charging into the penalty box to meet Cuadrado’s corner. His second was a penalty, as he smashed the ball past Cragno with venom, having already beaten him to the ball to win the penalty. And the third was the pick of the litter, a scorcher with his left foot from a pretty tough angle.
We witnessed greatness on the pitch this Sunday.
Rating: 10