Juventus Player Ratings: Andrea Pirlo out of ideas in loss to Atalanta

Juventus knew they had to get the full three points on Serie A’s Matchday 31 against Atalanta, who were just one spot behind the third-place Bianconeri in the table. Instead of delivering a creative, professional display and stepping up to their competition at the Gewiss Stadium, Juve lost 1-0 without Cristiano Ronaldo in one of their most uninspiring, big-game performances of the 2020-2021 campaign.

More questions need to be asked of Andrea Pirlo’s management and tactical ideas (or lack thereof). He put several of his players in a position to fail, and his team had no real pressing structure, transitional pattern, or alignment to recycle the ball and penetrate the box in possession. In short, Pirlo showed very little prowess in a head-to-head matchup with Gian Piero Gasperini. It is worrisome how little progression Pirlo has shown tactically since taking the Juventus job.

Here are the full player ratings from Juve’s 1-0 loss to Atalanta as they drop down to fourth.

GK Wojciech Szczesny

Wojciech Szczesny was one of Juve’s best performers on the pitch. For a big club, that’s rarely a good sign. He could do nothing about the deflected goal, having saved a tough free kick just moments earlier. Szczesny made two great plays on the ball, showing real skill.

Rating: 7.0