Hellas Verona 2-1 Juventus: 3 takeaways from another Bianconeri defeat

Juventus met with another unfortunate destiny on Saturday evening, as they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Hellas Verona on Matchday 11 of the 2021/22 Serie A season. The defeat came off the back of the Old Lady’s last-minute embarrassment at the hands of U.S. Sassuolo in midweek.

With Saturday’s loss being Juve’s fourth in the league this season, Massimiliano Allegri’s men now find themselves behind Verona with 15 points from 11 matches. Things could get worse if a proper reaction doesn’t come soon from Paulo Dybala and co.

A bewildering start to the match saw Juve defenders allowing acres of space to Verona forwards. A brace in the opening 15 minutes from Capocannoniere aspirant Giovanni Simeone heaped more misery on Allegri. Following a blunder in the Verona defence, Paulo Dybala hit the crossbar with a first-time, left-footed curler in the first half.

In the 80th minute, Weston McKennie’s goal gave some hope of salvation, but it was already too late. Apart from Dybala, no one, in the outfield, tried to make a difference, with Juve’s individual prowess falling short in front of the collective vigour shown by the Gialloblu players.

Here are the three key takeaways from Juentus’ second league defeat on the trot.

3. Alvaro Morata and Juventus’ offensive woes!

“Ronaldo left on August 28, it would have been better for us if he had left earlier… If he had left earlier we would have had time to prepare better,” Giorgio Chiellini, being a mouthpiece of Juventus, discussed how the players had dealt with the loss of their talisman.

While the former Juventus number seven was contributing to Manchester United’s cause against Tottenham Hotspur at the other end of Europe on Saturday and his summer replacement in Moise Kean was still out — nursing his muscle injury, Alvaro Morata’s reputation was getting tarnished by the Verona defenders.

Despite playing alongside a productive Paulo Dybala, Morata was ineffective as a centre-forward. Defenders, who should have been scared of the Spaniard’s shrewdness, was seen shrugging off the former Chelsea forward with utter ease. It was as if a naive and young striker was playing against the best in the business.

According to the stats from Sofascore.com, the Juventus star attempted only two shots, with one of them being on target and the other one hitting the side-netting following a counter-attack in the second half. Against Verona’s back-three, the 29-year-old had an extremely hard time. He has been without a league goal since scoring in back-to-back games against Napoli and AC Milan in September.

Juventus, meanwhile, have not scored more than once in a single game since their 3-2 triumph over Sampdoria on Matchday 6. Their attacking malaise is a primary concern for Juventini and their manager.

Kaio Jorge does not seem to be a fitting option just yet, and Moise Kean, as mentioned before, is injured. Morata is also struggling with a lack of real identity in front of the goal. And there is no Cristiano Ronaldo around to save them from the forthcoming predicament. Perhaps some tweaks — whether that be playing a false nine or adding more men to the forward line with a change in formation — from Allegri need to follow as quickly as possible.