Le Pagelle: Juventus vs. Cagliari

In this fallow period of Juventus history, the team has had a lot of issues when it comes to keeping up momentum. After two games that saw Juve obliterate opponents by a combined 8-0, there certainly seemed to be some momentum building up.

And then it went kersplat in Sardinia. Juve continued to dominate the proceedings and flow of the game, but much like the slip-up three weeks ago against Lecce, they failed to make that dominance count, leaving themselves open for one moment of madness to do them in.

That moment duly came midway through the second half against Cagliari, when the defense fell asleep to allow Luca Mazzitelli to volley a free kick into the net, providing the difference in the Isolani’s 1-0 win—their first over Juve since a dead rubber game at the end of the 2020 COVID restart, and only their second since 2010. It stalled the team’s momentum at a critical point.

How did things come quite so bad? Let’s take a closer look.

MATTIA PERIN – 5.5. Looked a step slow on Mazzitelli’s winner. There was only one place he could go with that shot based on where the free kick went and he failed to anticipate it.

PIERRE KALULU – 5. Possibly his worst game of the year. He wasn’t as big a contributor in the attack and fell asleep on the sequence that led to the goal. I wonder if playing every minute of the season is perhaps finally catching up to him?

BREMER – 5.5. Made a pair of tackles as well as two key passes, but he also missed some promising service from his teammates when he was in the box. Seeing him missing crosses in the air like that isn’t something we’re used to.

LLOYD KELLY – 6. Three clearances and a couple of tackles marked his day, a competent performance overall.

ANDREA CAMBIASO – 6. Had a rather good long-distance shot palmed away by Elia Caprile and tied for the team lead with four key passes. Also made a pair of tackles and though Marco Palestra did manage to get around him a few times, he’s done that to far better defenders than Cambiaso this year, so it’s hard to hold it against him too much.

MANUEL LOCATELLI – 6. The other leader in key passes, which he racked up in only 65 minutes before surprisingly being replaced right after Mazzitelli scored. Didn’t have his usual defensive numbers, but that was mostly because he was so far up the pitch for most of the game.

TEUN KOOPMEINERS – 5.5. Led the team in tackles and interceptions, doing a good job keeping Cagliari on their heels when they tried to break out, especially in the first half, but wasn’t really able to do anything himself to capitalize on it. Made one key pass but wasn’t ultimately all that impactful at all.

WESTON McKENNIE – 5.5. Not the threat he’s been up front the last few games. Couldn’t make the kind of trouble that we’ve seen the last few weeks.

FABIO MIRETTI – 5.5. Another man who didn’t have the same kind of game we’ve seen his last few runs out. He did make five shots, and the only one on target was a dangerous one that took a deflection, but ultimately was part of the collective failure to make the possession pay.

KENAN YILDIZ – 6.5. Created the most problems with his insane close control. He registered eight dribbles—the second time this month he’s had at least that many—as well as a pair of key passes, and was unlucky to see a late deflected effort hit the post instead of the net.

JONATHAN DAVID – 5. Had a key pass but couldn’t get any of his shots to work, and was consistently physically overpowered by Yerry Mina. Forced into a little more holdup play than he probably would’ve liked.

SUBS

LOÏS OPENDA – 5. Touched the ball only six times, and his only shot attempt was a header on a cross that was a little too high for him.

EDON ZHEGROVA – 6. Completed 95.5 percent of his passes, including three of five crosses, and had a key pass. His work opened a few more holes in the Cagliari defense than there had been before.

KHÉPHREN THURAM – NR. Added some strength and dynamism to midfield. Probably should’ve come on earlier.

FRANCISCO CONCEIÇÃO – NR. Only completed three-quarters of his passes and didn’t set anything up, kept on looking like he was running into a wall.

VASILIJE ADZIC – NR. Had one shot blocked but really didn’t have the time on the field to do much.

MANAGER ANALYSIS

Luciano Spalletti didn’t handle this game particularly well. His lineup decisions weren’t horrible—keeping the the attacking quartet that had done so well the last few games was a good idea, and giving Thuram rest wasn’t terrible in a vacuum. Even giving Michlele Di Gregorio some rest wasn’t a bad idea given what Juve have on their plate next.

But his in-game decision making was off the mark. He should’ve made a change or two to liven up proceedings before Cagliari had had the opportunity to go ahead. Instead, he stood pat in the idea that the pressure would eventually pay, and eventually ended up paying himself.

It’s not the first time that the timing of Spalletti’s moves have been late. I also think some of the moves themselves were questionable. Taking Locatelli off seemed entirely unwarranted based on his play, although the fact that he was up against the suspension threshold with Napoli looming on Sunday was almost certainly a major factor in that move as well. Miretti wasn’t playing badly either, but Spalletti probably had decided to get some more width into the game.

Still, the biggest issue here was that the team seemed to be that the team was a little complacent. Whether they were looking ahead to the big games coming in the week, or simply possessed of a case of Victory Disease, the laser-focus that was on show against Sassuolo and Cremonese simply wasn’t there today. That’s got to be nipped in the bud, or else the next few weeks of games could get bad.

LOOKING AHEAD

The next six weeks will be a critical time for Juventus. They’ll play four out of the top six teams in the league between now and March 1, including Sunday’s game against Napoli. They’ll end the stretch with consecutive matches against Inter, Como, and Roma, and the Coppoa Italia quarterfinal against Atalanta will come before that. Sandwiched around the Napoli game will be Juve’s final two matches of the Champions League league phase, at home against Benfica on Wednesday followed by next week’s match at Monaco.

Big stretch coming up.