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Juventus 3-1 Atalanta: 3 takeaways from Juve’s last pre-season friendly

By Jyotirmoy Halder

TURIN, ITALY - AUGUST 14: Paulo Dybala of Juventus celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the pre-season friendly match between Juventus and Atalanta BC at Allianz Stadium on August 14, 2021 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY - AUGUST 14: Paulo Dybala of Juventus celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the pre-season friendly match between Juventus and Atalanta BC at Allianz Stadium on August 14, 2021 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images) /
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2. Aaron Ramsey should be thankful to Rodrigo Bentancur

Rodrigo Bentancur, Juventus (R) (Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images)
Rodrigo Bentancur, Juventus (R) (Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images) /

Before the start of the ongoing summer transfer window, Aaron Ramsey was understood to be heading away from Juventus. He was labelled as a wantaway prospect in Turin.

Several English clubs from Premier League were looking to sign the Welshman for a reasonable transfer fee. But since the beginning of Juventus’ pre-season, the 30-year-old has been valued as one of the integral cogs in Allegri’s well-oiled machine.

Under the guidance of the returning Italian boss, Juventini have seen the former Arsenal midfielder rise from the ashes just like the mythical Phoenix. The manager has trusted him to play the role of a “regista” or a deep-lying playmaker for the Bianconeri.

Sitting in front of the defence, Ramsey has been found patrolling the defensive midfield area several times over the last few weeks. It’s obviously unusual to see him playing that role as he was more of a box-to-box midfielder during his time under Pirlo and Maurizio Sarri and at Arsenal before that. By trade, he likes to attack the box and then prefer helping the defence to some extent.

Against Atalanta, he was again asked to play the regista role. Thanks to Rodrigo Bentancur, who was always there to mop things up, Aaron Ramsey escaped quite a few mishaps on the night. In the post-match interview, Allegri talked about the evolution of Aaron Ramsey as a regista. He told Sky Sports (as quoted by @BianconeriZone Twitter):

"“Locatelli [Juventus’ chief transfer target for the midfield] is still a Sassuolo player. Today, however, Ramsey in front of the defense did well and with time he will make fewer and fewer mistakes.”"

Juventus are yet to agree on a deal for Manuel Locatelli, the Piedmontese club’s first and foremost midfield target this summer. Henceforth, it is expected that we would see more of Ramsey playing in front of the defence and shielding the backline.

With the help of Bentancur, he can play in that defensive midfield position occasionally. But, at bigger stages or for crucial games, Juventus better try to bring in Locatelli from Sassuolo as soon as possible.

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