Juventus 1-0 Chelsea: 3 key takeaways from Juve’s statement triumph

1. Adrien Rabiot must do much better to keep his place in that midfield

Adrien Rabiot has been a regular feature in Allegri’s four-man midfield at Juventus since the five-time Scudetto-winning manager returned to Turin.

Signing on a free transfer in 2019, Rabiot, however, has never settled. Like the phrase, “one step forward, two steps back”, Rabiot’s career at Allianz Stadium has been topsy-turvy.

Following the game against Malmo FF, Allegri was captured saying,

"“As for Rabiot, maybe even he doesn’t know how much potential he has.”"

He didn’t repeat anything like that after the game against Chelsea. But he would’ve made the same comments had the reporter asked the question once again. A few daunting runs down the left and a couple of easy giveaways at the middle of the park marked the 76 minutes of Adrien Rabiot for Juventus on Wednesday night.

As per FBref.com, he completed 13 passes out of 15 attempts, becoming the one to create the second-least passes among the starters from both teams behind Federico Chiesa, who passed the ball 12 times against Chelsea. In addition to that, Rabiot failed to capitalise on a golden opportunity on the break in the first half.

A linear ball to Kulusevski was open. In an attempt to get some extra curl on the ball, he overhit the pass, which subsequently found the gloves of the Chelsea custodian in Edouard Mendy. It was an “appalling” pass, as later annoyingly expressed by the commentators.

Rabiot has to do much better to play regularly in a midfield strengthened by the arrival of Manuel Locatelli. As things stand, Allegri has faith in the Frenchman. But if the run of inconsistency continues, Rabiot may find himself on the fringe by the end of the campaign.