New era, same problems as Juve are held by Udinese in opener

For 45 minutes, it seemed like issues had been going to be higher.

For 45 minutes, Juventus seemed phenomenal, controlling the sport and constructing a two-goal lead over Udinese.

However as the daylight waned Sunday, so too did the brilliant begin, and the Juventus we had been left with in Massimiliano Allegri’s first match again was the identical one which we noticed far, far too typically final yr below Andrea Pirlo they usually yr earlier than that below Maurizio Sarri. Self-inflicted wounds had been the theme as soon as once more. The highlight shall be on the 2 startling howlers dedicated by Wojciech Szczesny in objective, however it might be a mistake to scale back the sport to these. The assault died out within the second half, producing just one shot on track, and that got here in stoppage time. Not counted in that tally was the disallowed objective scored by Cristiano Ronaldo, who had come off the bench and thought he had a winner on the dying solely to see the objective chalked off for probably the most ludicrously marginal offside name you’ll see all yr.

It’s telling, by the way in which, that the way in which Juve melted down in that second half was certainly so loopy that it drowned out the truth that Ronaldo began the sport on the bench, reportedly by his own request — which gained’t get the media going loopy within the slightest.

It was a kooky and convoluted formulation to provide you with a 2-2 draw, however the principle takeaway is evident: merely placing Max again within the supervisor’s workplace isn’t going to be the magic bullet so many — Andrea Agnelli included — had been hoping for when he was reappointed.

Within the hour earlier than kickoff the Ronaldo state of affairs did certainly dominate all dialogue, with the sudden information that he wasn’t within the beginning XI adopted rapidly by the equally shocking information that he had requested out. Federico Chiesa was additionally curiously left on the bench to start out earlier than phrase got here out it was as a consequence of a slight bodily difficulty, leaving the trio that had performed so effectively in opposition to Atalanta every week in the past absent save for Paulo Dybala. Allegri subsequently began a 4-4-2 setup that was anchored by Szczesny on the again. Danilo, Matthijs de Ligt, Leonardo Bonucci, and Alex Sandro had been arrayed in entrance of him. Juan Cuadrado and Federico Bernardeschi performed because the extensive midfielders. Weston McKennie was serving a yellow-card suspension triggered on the final day of final season, Adrien Rabiot and Arthur had been injured, and Manuel Locatelli wasn’t but match to start out, so Rodrigo Bentancur and Aaron Ramsey had been the one central midfielders accessible. Dybala wore the captain’s armband, becoming a member of forces with Alvaro Morata up entrance.

Luca Gotti countered with a 3-5-1-1 formation. Marco Silvestri began in objective behind the trio of Samir, Rodrigo Becao, and Bram Nuytinck. Nahuel Molina and Iyenoma Udogie performed because the wing-backs, with Wallace, Jean-Victor Makengo, and Tolgay Arslan in midfield. Former Juve participant Roberto Pereyra performed barely behind Ignacio Pussetto up high.

Juventus’ season began about in addition to you would probably requested for. Juve compelled a nook inside a minute and a half, and with 2:05 on the clock their vice-captain fired them into the lead. The transfer was easy however deadly, with Cuadrado tapping the ball into the appropriate channel to satisfy a run that Bentancur made out of deep in midfield. The Uruguayan instantly turned and squared it into the trail of Dybala, who was operating within him. La Joya beat the defenders to the spot and flicked it previous Silvestri with none wasted motion in any way, and Juve had been up to the mark early.

Picture by MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP by way of Getty Photographs

Udinese had their first shot within the ninth minute after a sequence of fast passes between Pereyra and Pussetto, whose shot went proper at Szczesny for a simple save. Past that, the house workforce had a good quantity of possession however weren’t in a position to determine easy methods to use it. Juve had a number of extra probing assaults earlier than Dybala despatched a stunning diagonal cross throughout the sector to a streaking Cuadrado. The Colombian pulled the ball down and confronted up Nuytinck. He feinted a reduce inside then burst ahead on the identical aircraft, releasing himself as much as fireplace throughout the objective and into the web to double the lead on 23 minutes.

Juve had been taking part in effectively as the sport headed for the break. Silvestri wasn’t precisely below siege, however he was definitely the extra involved of the 2 goalkeepers. Morata swung a free ball within the field previous the submit simply after the half-hour mark and on the stroke of halftime smacked one into the facet netting from a good angle after Ramsey redirected a wayward Dybala cross. However Juve had been by far the higher facet, connecting with one another as they attacked and fully stymieing their opponents, who had been clearly lacking the inventive abilities of Rodrigo De Paul. It seemed like clear crusing to their first three factors of the season, step one towards probably regaining their title.

Then, the second half occurred.

Udinese got here out of the gates wanting higher, and 5 minutes after the restart a complete workforce failure in protection was punctuated by the primary of Szczesny’s mind farts. Arslan had taken a cross from Udogie and reduce inside, leaving it off for Pereyra. De Ligt had come as much as strain the Argentinian, and Ramsey up and stopped monitoring Arslan after he dumped the ball off, leaving an enormous gap for the German to run into and shoot. The shot was proper at Szczesny and wasn’t significantly venomous, however the Poland worldwide spilled it again into Arslan’s path, then took too lengthy to get better and took the midfielder down as he went again for a second chew. Szczesny’s error was calamitous, for positive, however simply as dangerous was Ramsey standing there throwing his arms into the air as he puzzled why nobody was doing his job.

Pereyra transformed the penalty simply, however Juve very almost put the lid again inside three minutes, when Morata went up in a crowd and met a cross from Sandro, looping a header towards the far submit and bouncing it off the stick. Udinese, figuring out that they had gotten away with one and smelling blood, Gotti despatched on former La Masia product Gerard Deulofeu, and the Spaniard very almost earned his workforce a second penalty minutes after approaching, however the VAR examine revealed that whereas he could have been fouled by Danilo — it might’ve been a ticky-tack name — there was additionally an offside within the buildup, negating something that had come after it.

Allegri made a triple sub whereas the VAR assessment was in progress, sending on Giorgio Chiellini, Dejan Kulusevski, and Ronaldo. The Portuguese famous person was given a direct likelihood on a set piece, however missed a sitter as he headed Dybala’s supply extensive. He almost picked up an help three minutes later, laying the ball again for a ready Bentancur, whose first time shot from the highest of the penalty arc slammed into the submit for the second time on the night time.

The triple sub modified the formation to a 3-4-3, with Danilo transferring into midfield. It was a traditional Allegri transfer to safe a recreation, however it additionally muddled the assault, and Juve struggled to place the ball ahead as a way to prolong the lead. Udinese weren’t precisely forcing them to man the barricades, however one second can be all it took to finish Udinese’s comeback — and that second was duly gifted to them within the 83rd minute.

It was an inauspicious sufficient again cross from Bonucci that was a calamity, as Szczesny took the ball after which for causes solely recognized between him and the Lord determined to attempt to dribble by the strain of each Deulofeu and fellow substitute Stefano Okaka. As a substitute he ended up in even deeper bother, poking the ball off of Okaka and to the toes of Deulofeu, who slotted the ball into the empty internet. He was initially flagged offside, however a VAR examine decided he was even with the ball when it got here off of his teammate, and the sport was tied.

Picture by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/High quality Sport Photographs/Getty Photographs

Manuel Locatelli’s Juventus debut got here in a far much less auspicious method than everybody had hoped, with Allegri throwing him out with a minute left on the clock along with his remaining substitution. With a number of VAR stoppages, referee Ivano Pezzuto added six minutes of stoppages, and Juve generated a pair of fantastic probabilities. The primary got here from Dybala, took down a protracted ball from Chiellini, gave some floor, then unleashed a sweeping 24-yard strike that was denied by a diving, one-handed save from Silvestri. Then got here Ronaldo’s effort, rising excessive over Becao to move house a stunning cross from Chiesa, solely to have the objective disallowed by VAR for what needed to be maybe an inch’s price of his shoulder. It was a name that adhered to the letter of the offside rule however as soon as once more highlighted the necessity to reform it. There merely wasn’t any manner that Ronaldo really gained a bonus on his defender from the place he was in.

There was one other minute tacked on after that to account for the assessment, however it did neither workforce a lot good, and when the whistle began, Juve had dropped factors on opening day for less than the second time since 2011, and there have been nonetheless way more questions than solutions on the day.

WOJCEICH SZCZESNY – 3. Simply the worst ranking I’ve ever given to a keeper on this web site. Szczesny’s been on a tough run of kind because the starting of 2021. Final season could possibly be thought-about a blip for a keeper that has been in any other case eminently competent since taking up the beginning gloves in 2018, however because the dangerous begins to stretch into the brand new season it begins to change into regarding. Each objectives had been finally his accountability, though the protection does share some blame for the primary. Szczesny must get proper, as a result of if he stays this shaky it’s going to be an actual downside.

DANILO – 6. Recorded extra clearances than anybody on the workforce (3) and was regular from the full-back place, though issues broke down a bit as he moved into the center of the park.

MATTHIJS DE LIGT – 6. Blocked a pair of pictures and accomplished 91.3 % of his passes. Had recreation general however was a bit out of place when Arslan burst into the field early within the second half.

LEONARDO BONUCCI – 6.5. Tied the workforce excessive with 4 interceptions, and customarily stayed robust in protection.

ALEX SANDRO – 6.5. Made two key passes from the left flank and customarily saved his facet of the sector on lock. Would’ve had an help had been it not for the submit.

JUAN CUADRADO – 7. Regardless of his comparatively profitable transition to full-back the previous couple of years, it was enjoyable to see him specializing in the assault at this time. He was, as traditional, his fingerprints had been everywhere in the assault. He initiated the transfer for the opener and his objective 20 minutes later was beautiful. Oh, and he led the workforce with three tackles too.

RODRIGO BENTANCUR – 6.5. Simply his greatest recreation in a yr. Assisted on the opener and really almost put the sport away in the midst of the second half when he tried to form one in however hit the submit. Defensively he racked up two tackles and 4 interceptions. Enjoying as a mezz’ala merely fits him higher. If he can do that for the remainder of the yr, will probably be a much-needed enhance to the midfield.

AARON RAMSEY – 5.5. His defensive mistake on Arslan’s run was a serious mistake, however he was in any other case comparatively inoffensive taking part in as a makeshift regista. That mentioned, Locatelli on this spot will convey the whole lot up a degree.

FEDERICO BERNARDESCHI – 5. Solely touched the ball 16 instances in an hour, posting hardly any counting stats in any respect. Powerful to see what precisely his directions had been on the pitch.

PAULO DYBALA – 8. At his elegant greatest on this recreation. His objective was a wonderful poacher’s flick, and his help to Cuadrado was merely implausible. He pale within the second half, however nonetheless got here a implausible save away from placing Juve again in entrance in stoppage time. If he performs like this all season, good issues will consequence.

ALVARO MORATA – 6. Did a variety of soiled work making runs within the field to stretch the protection, and got here oh-so-close to re-establishing Juve’s lead when his header bounced off the pipework. General, shift.

SUBS

CRISTIANO RONALDO – 6. I used to be frankly going to make this grade barely decrease, as a result of he didn’t have the most effective of video games, together with a missed sitter proper after he got here on, however he deserved that objective on the finish. His benching at first goes to toss out a ton of rumors over the subsequent week, although, so buckle up.

Picture by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Photographs

GIORGIO CHIELLINI – 6. An important lengthy ball almost sprung Dybala for the winner in stoppage time, selecting up a objective and an help over his half-hour on the sector.

DEJAN KULUSEVSKI – 5. Made little influence going ahead as Allegri tried to freshen issues up up high.

FEDERICO CHIESA – 6. Ought to’ve had an help on the finish. It was a shock to see him on the bench, however one has to imagine he’s nonetheless not at full health after his prolonged trip after the Euros. Enjoying him as a wing-back, although, isn’t the place you need to see him after such an ideal event.

MANUEL LOCATELLI – NR. Frankly ought to’ve been on so much sooner than this, and didn’t have time to do a lot of something.

Speak about daring to depart Ronaldo out of the beginning XI your first recreation again — whether or not he requested out of the lineup for not. However Allegri’s fingerprints are additionally throughout this recreation in a much less nice type of manner.

This recreation was a billboard for one of many worst qualities of an Allegri workforce — the tendency to vanish and begin dropping too deep when holding on to a lead. The indicators had been already cropping up earlier than Szczesny’s first large mistake, and it’s one thing that Allegri goes to need to stamp out rapidly if this season is to be extra profitable than the final. His change to a 3-4-3 additionally muddied issues, got here far too early, and contributed to the dearth of cohesion that the workforce would endure as the sport wore on. Final season was derailed by dropping far too many factors to groups Juve needs to be beating, and this was a kind of video games—an inauspicious begin to say the least.

One different difficulty was with Allegri’s substitutions. He talked about in his press conference, this was his first time teaching an official recreation with 5 subs, and he didn’t fairly use them successfully. A change was wanted across the hour mark, however his triple change was a bit too drastic and muddied the waters tactically. His irritating tendency to make the appropriate resolution far too late was additionally on show, as Locatelli actually ought to have been on 10 minutes sooner than he was to attempt to set up a bit extra management in midfield. If you happen to don’t suppose he’s match to start out but, fantastic, however he can go 10 minutes. It was a bizarre resolution to throw him on proper on the finish when he might’ve stabilized issues if he’d come on earlier than the equalizer.

Juve will come again to a house crowd for the primary time, in opposition to newly-promoted Empoli. Then, usefully, the workforce will cut up up for the worldwide break earlier than coming again on September 12 for an enormous recreation in opposition to Napoli in Naples.