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Juventus 2-1 Sassuolo: 4 takeaways as Juve book place in Coppa Italia semi-finals

By James Cormack

TURIN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 10: Juventus players group prior to kick off in the Coppa Italia match between Juventus and US Sassuolo at Allianz Stadium on February 10, 2022 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 10: Juventus players group prior to kick off in the Coppa Italia match between Juventus and US Sassuolo at Allianz Stadium on February 10, 2022 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images) /
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All-important changes

Alvaro Morata made an impact off the bench. (Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)
Alvaro Morata made an impact off the bench. (Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images) /

The boss reverted to Sunday’s system on the hour as Morata and Manuel Locatelli were introduced. The Spaniard functioned as an inside forward in the left channel, supporting Vlahovic, while Locatelli established control in the middle of the park. Dybala’s influence increased as he drifted in off the right and Cuadrado’s performance improved as his role became clearer from right-back.

The changes saw Juve wrestle back control and they started to dominate. Chances were created at a canter as Morata started to combine with Vlahovic and set-pieces caused Sassuolo all sorts of problems. However, the imperious form of reserve goalkeeper Gianluca Pegolo kept a much-improved Bianconeri at bay. He saved brilliantly from substitute Adrien Rabiot and Morata in the final 20 minutes.

In the end, an inadvertent deflection was the only way Juventus were going to break Pegolo’s resistance on Thursday night.

Nevertheless, the contest neatly depicted the impact of Allegri’s systematic switch. The front three sparked into life as a turgid, monotone Juventus evolved into a more spritely and dynamic iteration. This has to be the manager’s default approach moving forward.

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