Spezia 2-3 Juventus: 3 takeaways from Juve’s first Serie A win this season

Juventus had to wait for five games to savour their first victory in Serie A 2021/22. Thanks to goals from Moise Kean, Federico Chiesa and Matthijs de Ligt, Massimiliano Allegri’s men were able to overshadow the collective effort from Thiago Motta’s Spezia— with the game finishing 3-2 on the scoreline.

A hard-fought triumph, as suggested by the scoreline, saw Juventus climb out of the relegation zone. By the end of the night, they were 13th in the points table with five points from five matches.

Although a scrappy goal from Matthijs de Ligt managed to win all three points for the visitors at Stadio Alberto Picco, it was far from a convincing display for the Bianconeri. If anything, glimpses of individual brilliance bailed Juventus out of further misery on Wednesday evening.

That said, here are the three takeaways from Juve’s first win in the Serie A 2021/22 season.

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3. Juventus are lucky to have a core

The Bianconeri were on the way to be a part of another massive upset — by losing to Spezia, of course. Following a tepid first half where they looked dismantled and scared of their counterparts, Juventini started to believe that they would be the subject of mockery on social media once again.

That nightmare didn’t come to pass as Juve fans should be thankful that the club still possesses an excellent core of players. They, unlike others, are always there to throw everything on the line for the success and prosperity of the club.

First on the list comes Paulo Dybala. Captaining Juventus against Spezia, La Joya was a key figure in Juve’s away victory. Despite failing to log an assist or score a goal, Dybala caught the eyes every time he placed his foot on the ball.

According to Whoscored.com, the diminutive Argentine had four shots on target out of six attempts — most of any player in the match from both sides. Furthermore, he had 82 touches on the ball, signifying how determined he was to receive the ball and run his magic. Often coming deep in the midfield to demand the ball, Dybala had the appetite to spark something out of nothing.

When it comes to hunger and stubbornness, one couldn’t overlook Federico Chiesa, either. In the 65th minute of the game — almost everyone from the visiting side had grown tired of pressing, Chiesa, without losing an ounce of hope, tracked down a Spezia defender and retrieved the ball from a situation no one, from his team at least, would’ve managed to do.

After regaining possession, he didn’t stop and kept on darting at the defence, played a one-two with Alvaro Morata and nutmegged another Spezia defender before finishing the whole sequence off on his own.

The European champion with Italy completed eight key passes (most in the game) against Spezia. The persistence of Moise Kean (the scorer of the first goal), Federico Chiesa, Paulo Dybala, and Matthijs de Ligt (the scorer of the decisive goal) is what Juventus fans want to see from every player in the squad. If they all succumb to failure, fans could rely on this emerging core of players.