Juventus vs. Genoa: 3 takeaways from another 3-1 victory

Juventus righted the ship and got back into the win column on Wednesday against Napoli, defeating their rivals 2-1 to get an important advantage in maintaining a Champions League place. But the Bianconeri knew they could not get complacent again this Sunday vs. Genoa.

And although Genoa had their chances, mostly courtesy of Gianluca Scamacca, the Bianconeri did indeed get their third win of the 2020-2021 campaign against Genoa.

Here are the three takeaways from Juve’s second straight victory.

Don’t underrate Adrien Rabiot’s work

Adrien Rabiot could move to a new team this summer, but if Juventus cannot find the right offer for the 2019 free agent signing, Juventini should not be upset at all at the prospect of keeping the French midfielder around for another year.

He is occasionally capable of scoring great goals, such as against Lazio, but Rabiot’s biggest positive is that he’s willing to put in the hard work defensively.

Rabiot was arguably Juve’s Man of the Match in this win over Genoa because of his willingness to work defensively. According to WhoScored.com, Rabiot led Juventus with four tackles and two interceptions. He helped out offensively, too, with three dribbles completed.

Juventini would like to see more of this kind of all-action performance from Rabiot. Early in the season, he was doing this on a regular basis. Hopefully, Rabiot can string together a few more of these useful performances before the season ends.

Dejan Kulusevski, Alvaro Morata get needed goals

Alvaro Morata had not scored in his last five matches in all competitions and had just the one assist against Torino. He also drew the ire of Juventini for some poor passes that ruined counterattacks. When a striker is not scoring and is messing up those kinds of plays, the mistakes are magnified.

But fans have always quietly backed Morata, who has been a real asset to the Bianconeri in 2020-2021. The team plays much better when he is in the lineup, and he got a much-needed goal against Genoa, following up after Cristiano Ronaldo’s own follow-up hit the post.

Dejan Kulusevski also scored an important goal. He had received some unfair criticism from fans for a few poor performances, which were largely the result of being played out of position. That said, Kulu did have to bear responsibility for some lousy giveaways, including in the draw against Torino.

The Swedish international scored in just a few minutes against Genoa with a wonderful, first-time finesse shot into the far left corner. It was vintage stuff from the 2019-2020 standout at Parma, and he probably needed that goal even more than Morata did.

Weston McKennie shows his quality once more

Weston McKennie earned a permanent move from Schalke to Juventus, and he is proving the Bianconeri right each and every week. The American midfielder came off the bench and quickly scored, soaking up Danilo’s intelligent pass that caught the entire Genoa defense napping. McKennie took his chance with the composure of a veteran striker.

After that goal vs. Genoa, McKennie has found the back of the net six times in 2020-2021, and he’s also provided two assists. Those are fantastic numbers for a player who is not a regular starter. McKennie is easily Juve’s most productive midfielder, and at a time in which the entire Juve midfield is in transition, the 22-year-old’s goal-scoring attributes have been that much more vital.