Barcelona 3-0 Juventus: 3 takeaways from the Joan Gamper Trophy
#1 Forwards were involved in fruitless endeavours
Fortune was in the favour of Juventus strikers. They kept on trying to open the scoreline all night, with no success following the path of their attempts. Allegri chose to go with a two-man attack featuring Alvaro Morata and Cristiano Ronaldo on Sunday night.
Both professionals were at the core of Juventus’ success last season, with Ronaldo winning the Capocannoniere by scoring 29 goals in Serie A and Morata being the second top-goalscorer for the Italian club with a dozen of assists to his name across all competitions.
It’s expected that they will continue to contribute to the team’s collective cause in the 2021/22 season, but it was certainly not their night against Barcelona. Coming back from holiday, both Ronaldo and Morata started their first game in the pre-season. Rustiness was, hence, visible in their efforts.
While taking shots, they both prioritised power over precision, ensuring such attempts were easier to save for Neto, a former Juventus custodian. The struggle of Juventus forwards become more clear from this statistic: Both Juventus and Barcelona had six shots on target from attempted 13; only one team ended up scoring three.
Next. It is a make or break season for Rodrigo Bentancur. dark
Not being able to open the scoreboard in a pre-season friendly should not bear any worrying sign for Juventus, when you have Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese phenomenon could find his goalscoring boots anytime. We should eagerly wait for that moment.