Juventus: 3 negatives from the 1-1 draw with Napoli

Lorenzo Insigne’s masterclass

It’s criminal that this guy is going to spend the remainder of his prime in Toronto. Lorenzo Insigne was majestic when his side needed him most on Thursday night.

The Juventus right flank couldn’t cope with the diminutive winger’s ingenuity. His movement and positioning persistently compromised both Federico Bernardeschi and Juan Cuadrado. When he wasn’t running off the former, he found himself in acres of space down the touchline. It must be said that his teammates, namely Dries Mertens, did a brilliant job at occupying right-back Cuadrado to prevent the Colombian from engaging Insigne.

As a result, the Napoli skipper had the freedom of Piedmont to create from his favoured left half-space and he’d end the contest with a game-high seven shot-creating actions. For Mertens’ goal, the passivity of Juve’s midfield allowed Insigne to drift infield and dink a delicate ball in behind for Matteo Politano. Alex Sandro dealt with the situation poorly, and his challenge set up the Belgian to finish.

Anyway, back to Insigne. The little magician played the game at his pace; dictating the depleted Neapolitan orchestra to his desire. He could seemingly occupy any zone without a Bianconeri shirt being in the same postcode, with Juve’s right flank taking Italy’s strict social distancing measures onto the pitch. Respect.

Nevertheless, the space Insigne was able to create was a testament to his craft and guile. But, there’s no doubting that Allegri will lament the lack of communication down Juve’s right. Not once did Cuadrado, Bernardeschi and right interior Weston McKennie attempt to mitigate the issues caused by Insigne on Thursday night, and the Italian was able to have his way with the Old Lady up until the last.