Juventus 4-2 Zenit: 3 key takeaways as Juve continue perfect Champions League start

Juventus conquered Zenit on Tuesday evening, with Massimiliano Allegri’s men thrashing their Russian counterparts 4-2 at the Allianz Stadium. The result saw Juve continue their perfect start to the Champions League campaign.

With four wins from four games, the Bianconeri have amassed 12 points. In total, they have scored nine goals and conceded only two, with both coming in the last night’s victory. That said, the Old Lady once again qualified for the first knock-out stages of the Champions League, being one of only two sides to secure their passage into the round of 16 on Matchday 4.

Adrien Rabiot and Juan Cuadrado were the notable individuals who didn’t make the starting XI on Tuesday. Paulo Dybala picked up a brace, with Federico Chiesa and Alvaro Morata also carving their names on the scoresheet.

Leonardo Bonucci was unlucky to plunder an own-goal, while Sardar Azmoun’s late strike was merely a consolation for the visiting side. Although Juventus eventually went on to wrap up the game convincingly, Zenit were formidable and caused upheaval at times in the Bianconeri defence.

Here are the three key takeaways from the Old Lady’s 4-2 victory over the reigning Russian champions.

3. Wojciech Szczęsny was too good to go unnoticed!

“When I was at Roma I kept Alisson, the best in the world on the bench. Now, at Juventus, my back-up is Buffon, one of the best keepers in history. So the only logical conclusion I can draw is that I’m probably the best keeper in the history of the game,” joked Wojciech Szczesny in 2019.

Seeing him patrolling his 18-yard box last night was a friendly reminder of Szczesny’s top-class attributes. Yes, he conceded two goals, but the game against Zenit marked one of his best performances for Juventus so far in the 2021/22 season.

Earlier this term, Szczesny was a subject of discussion among the Juventus faithful and there were certainly much to talk about. Having made a horrid start to the campaign, the Pole made multiple blunders that cost Juventus some vital points in the initial stage of the ongoing campaign.

We argued that Mattia Perin, who spent his last season on loan at Genoa, should start more games for Juventus and discussed potential candidates to replace the Poland international. However, over the last few weeks, Szczesny has shown sound composure while handling the ball. The impressive display against Zenit was a sharp response to his critics. Completing three saves and one high claim, Szczęsny made only one mistake that led to a shot, according to the data from Sofascore.

After bypassing Juventus’ high press, Zenit players occasionally found themselves in favourable three-v-three and four-v-four situations against the Bianconeri defence. Only due to Szczęsny’s commanding cries from the back, the defence managed to deal with the imminent threats on Tuesday evening. Should he continue to play like this, Mattia Perin might then have to relinquish the idea of attaining the number one spot at Juventus.