2. How good was Luca Pellegrini for Juventus?
Luca Pellegrini was a surprising addition to Juve’s starting XI against SS Lazio on Saturday. It was the youngster’s second start in the league this term. Starting down the left flank, Pellegrini, before the start of the game, would have thought that he would get adequate defensive cover from the trio behind him.
But as soon as Danilo was stretchered off the field following what seemed like a serious injury, the youngster was all alone on that left, against an extremely cunning and pacy Manuel Lazzari.
It was impressive how Pellegrini dealt with the threats of an onrushing Lazzari on several occasions on Saturday evening. Never reluctant to showcase aggression, the former AS Roma prospect was always on the shoulders of Lazzari and hardly let the fellow Italian go past him.
As per the stats from Sofascore, the 22-year-old won six out of seven ground duels on the night and never got dribbled past throughout the entire game. Pellegrini also completed three crosses with an accuracy of 100%. He also attempted quite a few long balls but accumulated little success. On a day when Juventus were more focused on keeping it firm against Lazio’s firepower, Pellegrini did more than an adequate job.
This sort of performance from a youngster would surely make Allegri delighted. We are poised to see more of Luca Pellegrini this season.