Sassuolo 1-3 Juventus: Player ratings as Juve keep top-four hopes alive

Juventus kept their top-four hopes alive on Wednesday night after they secured a crucial 3-1 victory over an in-form Sassuolo.

The hosts spurned a glorious opportunity to take the lead after Domenico Berardi’s penalty was well-saved by Gianluigi Buffon before Adrien Rabiot netted the opener with a strike from distance. Sassuolo were impressive but Juve proved ruthless in transition and Cristiano Ronaldo doubled the visitors’ lead from such a situation just before the break.

Their lead was halved as Giacomo Raspadori finally breached Buffon’s goal, but Juve responded through Paulo Dybala to secure a 3-1 triumph.

Here are the Juventus player ratings from the contest.

GK – Gianluigi Buffon

Heritage. Football heritage. Buffon’s penalty save, barely 24 hours after revealing he’ll be leaving the club in the summer, was superb and proved a game-altering moment. Elsewhere, there was a smart save to deny Pedro Obiang from distance.

Rating: 7.5/10

RB – Danilo

Danilo’s recent hiatus from the Juve XI has been strange considering his fine season and he was a busy boy tonight.

Jeremie Boga’s scintillating one-v-one ability and varied positioning put the Brazilian’s mind in a tangle, but he held up well for the most part and the winger’s influence waned in the second period. Danilo also had to deal with the threat of the marauding Georgios Kyriakopoulous when Boga drifted into the half-space

Overall, it was the sort of performance that further questioned his recent absence.

Rating: 7.5/10

CB – Matthijs de Ligt

This is the sort of Matthijs de Ligt performance Juventini can grow accustomed to seeing in the coming years. Imperious. Controlled. Dominant. However you label it, it was magnificent.

The Dutchman was proactive and timed his jumps out of the defensive line to shut out space between the lines to perfection. He covered wide areas and large spaces adeptly, with the sequence to deny Berardi in transition a stand-out highlight in the opening period.

Rating: 8/10

More from Old Juve

• Juventus beat Udinese 3-0 in first match of the season
• Team previews: Will Juventus’ attack fulfill its potential?
• Team Previews: Juventus midfielders need to show growth this year
• Team previews: Juventus defenders look ready to compete for Scudetto
• Leonardo Bonucci may be leaving Juventus soon

CB – Leonardo Bonucci

Bonucci, on the other hand, struggled with the effervescent Raspadori throughout. The Juve skipper brought down in Italy Under-21 international to gift Sassuolo the chance to take the lead from the spot and looked a step off the pace from that moment on.

Rating: 5/10

LB – Alex Sandro

His incredible intervention to prevent a Berardi tap-in at the back post was the outstanding defensive moment from the contest.

Sandro was tried and tested by Berardi’s subtleness and Jeremy Toljan’s dynamism but, like his full-back partner, left the Mapei Stadium following a stout showing.

Rating: 6.5/10

RM – Federico Chiesa

In a game of transitions, Chiesa was surprisingly inefficient as old habits came to the fore in this one. There was a rashness in the final third, but that can be seen as the young Italian merely working his way back into the groove after a short spell out. He was a pest out of possession, meanwhile.

Rating: 6/10

CM – Arthur Melo

Arthur was hardly metronomic as the hosts monopolised possession and I thought he’d struggled with the ball, taking too many touches at times. However, he impressed me in the defensive phase. The Brazilian’s three tackles ranked second among the Juve players before his second-half withdrawal.

Rating: 5.5/10

CM – Adrien Rabiot

Rabiot quickly atoned for his error that led to Berardi’s saved spot-kick by putting Juve ahead with a pinpoint effort from distance. His smart header also set Ronaldo on his way for the game’s second, while he played a hand in Juve’s third as well.

While he was important in all of Juve’s goals, his performance was otherwise ridden in error as he appeared persistently overwhelmed by the hosts’ intensity. Overall, though, it was a productive evening for the Frenchman.

Rating: 7/10

LM – Dejan Kulusevski

The Swede showed some real class on the half-turn at times, while his assist for Dybala was lovely. However, Kulusevski’s supreme work out of possession was the main takeaway from his performance. The youngster was remarkably diligent without the ball: smartly protecting the right half-space in Pirlo’s 4-4-2 mid-block and working deep into his own third to help out Alex Sandro.

He finished the bout with a team-high five tackles.

Rating: 7/10

ST – Paulo Dybala

Dybala’s display was limited to rare moments of innovation before he brought up his 100th Juventus goal with a delicate dink to round off a slick Bianconeri transition and restore his side’s two-goal advantage.

While he can often frustrate, no one can replicate Dybala’s poise around the box.

Rating: 7/10

ST – Cristiano Ronaldo

There was a spring in Ronaldo’s step tonight following his horror show on Sunday; a real purpose to his play. He brought up his 100th Juventus goal with a cool left-footed effort after outfoxing the hesitant Marlon and came close to securing a brace but his fierce strike struck the post after cutting in from the left.

Ronaldo needed to respond, and respond he most certainly did.

Rating: 7.5/10