Juventus tease attacking potential in European exhibition against Zenit

It was only on Saturday when Massimiliano Allegri asserted that his Juventus side had to “accept the reality” of being a mid-table Serie A outfit.

Well, supposed mediocre Italian outfits have no right to produce performances as the Bianconeri did against Zenit in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Following back-to-back domestic defeats to Sassuolo and Hellas Verona, Allegri, acting like the decisive commander in chief he is, opted to put his troops into training retreat. The Juve boss insisted he wasn’t punishing his players for their lousy recent form, but he merely wanted more time to work with them on the training pitch.

The fairly extreme measure worked a treat.

In their 4-2 victory over Zenit at the Allianz Stadium, Juventus, buoyed by the brilliance of attacking stars Paulo Dybala and Federico Chiesa, produced their most exhilarating performance of the season. It was Dybala who set the tone in the opening exchanges as he scored a tidy opener before Chiesa sprung into life after half-time. The Russians couldn’t cope with the effervescent directness of the Italian.

Juventus’ collective brilliance

While much of the Bianconeri’s attacking play has been predicated on the genius of individuals under Allegri, Tuesday’s victory wasn’t a case of two stars hauling them over the line. Instead, Dybala and Chiesa were merely the two most productive cogs in an excellent collective display.

The difference between Tuesday’s performance and the vast majority of Juve’s showings with the ball this season was stark. Against Zenit, Juve played with a distinct fluency that hasn’t been captured in Piedmont for quite some time. There was mutual understanding, an appreciation of space, frequent and effective interchanges. It was wonderful to watch at times.

The key was the optimal spacing between the players. It appeared that Allegri had coached the basics of positional play just in time for Tuesday’s bout to facilitate a high-quality attacking display. In Dybala, Federico Bernardeschi and Weston McKennie, Juventus often had multiple reference points between the lines to aid ball progression.

McKennie, once again, stood out without the ball. The American smartly rotated with teammates, particularly Dybala and he added an exuberance so often missing from his, and Juve’s midfield play this season. Bernardeschi, too, was very good. Functioning from the position put to shame by Adrien Rabiot over the past week, the Italian took up smart positions in the left half-space and emerged as a creative force.

Bernardeschi ended the contest with a game-high nine shot-creating actions, as he proved there’s still room for a hybrid role in Allegri’s 4-4-2. The former Fiorentina star was aided by overlapping left-back, Alex Sandro, rediscovering his assertiveness. The Brazilian produced his best performance since returning from the October international break, as he, along with the rest of his teammates, finally remembered how to control and pass a football.

Federico Chiesa steals the show in the second half

Then, the players returned for front row seats at the ‘Federico Chiesa Show’. The second half was all about the 24-year-old Azzurri hero.

So often disconnected from Juve’s possession play and yet to ignite under Allegri, Chiesa produced his finest 45 minutes of football since the European Championships in the summer. After primarily occupying the right flank in the first half, Chiesa roamed like a hungry nomad after the restart. It was from the left where he had the greatest impact, though, and his two goal-contributing sequences depicted his direct running, guile and craft. The Italian bulldozed his way to winning Juventus a penalty, which Dybala converted for the lead, before a rapid change of direction trumped Dejan Lovren in the immediate build-up to his goal and Juve’s third on the night.

While Dybala, whose emulation of Michel Platini went deeper than a celebration on Tuesday, often drifts and saunters around the turf before suddenly shifting the tempo with a one-two or a burst of acceleration, Chiesa is constantly competing at 100 miles-per-hour. It’s this contrast in style that makes them such a fascinating and mesmeric combination, but it can occasionally lead to confusion and dysfunction – especially when there’s no reliable system to fall back on.

Juve’s two attacking superstars operate at different tempos. Dybala performs to the rhythm of Ludovico Einaudi’s ‘Primavera’. He’s delicate, almost serene and capable of producing some wonderful crescendi. Chiesa, on the contrary, is very much ‘O Fortuna’. The Italian’s up and at you from the very outset and he fails to relinquish that frightening intensity throughout.

Nevertheless, against Zenit, the tandem found the perfect harmony and they collaborated to deadly effect as Juventus demonstrated just how potent they can be when functioning in a coherent and fluent system.

Let’s not get too carried away, eh, Juventini?

Allegri deserves a lot of credit for overseeing such a dramatic change following the horrors of last week. Now, the challenge is whether they can do it again. While Zenit are frequent competitors in Europe’s premier club competition and possess a few handy technicians across the pitch, the truth is that wouldn’t get close to Serie A’s top four.

A tough domestic test awaits on Saturday as Fiorentina come to town. Juventus will not only have to worry about a firing Dusan Vlahovic, but they also have to mitigate against the shrewd coaching of Vincezo Italiano. La Viola are tactically astute and more than capable of inflicting a third successive Serie A defeat on Juventus.

However, if Dybala and Chiesa align and both operate at levels of virtuosity, there’s little opposing defences can do to slow the Bianconeri down. While I’m sceptical of Tuesday’s performance immediately sparking a drastic turnaround, the display can nonetheless be considered as the night when Juventus’ attacking potential was realised.