Juventus 3 - 0 Como: Thiago Motta’s new look Juve dazzle in debut

As Thiago Motta looks to lay down the law at Turin, the Bianconeri failed to name a full bench with several big name players deemed surplus to requirements by Motta emitted from the squad completely. Juve named a mere nineteen players in the matchday squad, with the likes of Federico Chiesa, Arthur and Filip Kostic all notable absentees.

Eyebrows were raised as €50 million signing Douglas Luiz failed to make the XI, with a start handed to 20-year-old Samuel Mbangula instead. Motta explained his decision pre-match stating “he deserves it. He worked well in training, did everything from the first day and has done very well when coming on, so today he can help his teammates.” 

Federico Gatti was handed the unlikely captain’s armband for the tie, with an XI on Di Gregorio; Cambiaso, Bremer, Gatti, Cabal; K Thuram, Locatelli; Weah, Yildiz, Mbangula; Vlahovic. Como were without marquee signing Raphael Varane after picking up a knock in their Coppa Italia clash with Sampdoria, but veteran keeper Pepe Reina got a start, with Andrea Belotti and Patrick Cutrone up front for the visitors.

Juventus get the job done over Como

Juventus unleashed an aggressive high press early on as they attempted to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Como themselves tried to fight fire with fire as the two sides cancelled each other out early on.

Juve finally made the breakthrough on 23 minutes as Thiago Motta’s starting eleven gamble paid off. Debutant Samuel Mbangula cut him inside from the left. Yildiz was his usual nuisance self, luring away a defender to allow Mbangula to blast the first goal of the game into the far bottom corner with the inside of the right boot.

After that, Como regressed into their shell, fearful of losing a second. Juve keeper Di Gregorio did not have a single save to make in the first half as Como slowed the pace down with plenty of sideways and backwards passing,trying to take the sting of Juve’s attack.

Vlahovic came close to making it 2-0 on 42 minutes with an absurdly long free kick that dipped and swerved millimetres wide of the near post. Immediately after, Reina tried to play the ball out from the back, only for the high pressing Juve to force the Como defence into a mistake. Yildiz squared it off for Vlahovic, whose shot nutmegged one Como player, only for Barba to get a touch that pushed it onto the inside of the far post.

Juve would make it 2-0 before the break, from an unlikely source. In injury time, it looked like Weah might have picked up a thigh injury, walking gingerly. It didn’t preclude him when Dusan Vlahovic’s intelligent dummy saw the ball fall to his feet, with the American smashing it first-time with his left foot from 13 yards. The shot ricocheted off the underside of the bar, only for goal-line technology to soon confirm it had crossed the line afterwards as Juve headed into the break two goals to the good.

Weah would not return for the second half, replaced by Next Gen upstart Nicolo Savona. It looked to be 3-0 almost instantly when Cabal whipped a lovely ball in from the left to Vlahovic, who was able to head in from six yards. Unfortunately, Cambiaso was ruled to have been offside at the very beginning of the move and the goal was disallowed. Vlahovic’s bad luck would continue six minutes later, with his one-on-one saved by Reina at point-blank range before his rebound header hit the post.

Any hopes of Juve racking up the goal difference to try and take top spot at the end of Matchday 1 seemed to disappear as the game settled into a groove. Douglas Luiz would make his competitive debut twelve minutes from time, coming on for Locatelli, who nearly received a second yellow for elbows before being pulled off. Luiz struggled to make an impact in what little time he was given, bar a shot from outside the box deep in injury , which takes a big deflection and forces Reina into action to flap it away.

There would be time for one last goal though, as a shattered Andrea Cambiaso uses what energy he has left to cut inside from the right and bends a left-footed effort from the edge of the box past Reina to cap off a comfortable evening for Juventus. 

All-in-all, it was a routine win, with Juve barely threatened throughout proceedings and three goals from three different players each playing on the wing. Thiago Motta’s debut Serie A match laid out the blueprint going forward as it was all change from the old regime. In contrast to Allegri’s dour defensive style, Motta’s side is one that relishes possession and takes chances where they can get them, all while still remaining defensively stout. 

Juventus were efficient and clinical, with Yildiz shining as a #10 behind Vlahovic and youngster Mbangula seizing his opportunity on his debut with an excellent performance. Even Dusan Vlahovic showed flashes of the form which earned him his €80m move from Fiorentina in the first place, unlucky to not come away with at least a brace.

If Monday’s result against Como is anything to go by, it’s going to be an exciting season to be a Juventus fan.

Juventus 3-0 Como

Mbangula 23’ (Juve 1-0), Weah 45’ (Juve 2-0), Cambiaso 90’ (Juve 3-0)

Juventus: Di Gregorio; Cambiaso, Bremer, Gatti, Cabal; K Thuram (Fagioli 66’), Locatelli (Douglas Luiz 79’); Weah (Savona 46’), Yildiz, Mbangula; Vlahovic

Como: Reina; Sala, Goldaniga, Barba, Moreno; Strefezza, Braunöder, Baselli (Engelhardt 21’), Da Cunha (Abdilgaard 55’) (Verdi 62’); Belotti (Gabrielloni 55’), Cutrone (Cerri 62’)