PLAYER RATINGS: HELLAS VERONA 1-1 JUVENTUS
That’ll do it. In a must-win scenario where the possession of these three points meant more than it ever has, the Bianconero laid an egg in Verona and effectively pissed away any remaining hope of a comeback in the table chase for a potential tenth scudetto in a row. Injuries can be pointed to as an excuse, but the decisions this club has made over the last few years have led us to this moment and we the fans are the ones left to sit in it. An absolute mess of a midfield starting line-up consisting of: Rodrigo Bentancur, Aaron Ramsey, Adrien Rabiot, and Federico Bernardeschi. Well done, Paratici and crew.
Maybe in a couple of days, I will change my mind on the bleakness of the season, the feeling most fans have today is not the Fino Alla Fine mentality. Regardless, don’t expect a lot of insight on my end: I can only give equivalent effort to the squad on the field, otherwise find me drowning my sorrows in a glass of Woodford.
Notice: All ratings are calculated through a stringent process utilizing statistics and the eye test called My Opinion and are most certainly incorrect.
Starters
Wojciech Szczesny - 6
Tek did not get to rest from goal early as he was needed to save an early Hellas Verona shot on goal off of the post in the 6’. Szczesny had a monster save on a Lasagna run out in the 38’ to save a potential score by the Hellas Verona player. In the 77’ Antonin Barak easily completed a header off of the cross from Zaccagni that the Polish keeper lazily watched the ball glide past him for the equalizer. Tek tipped a Lazovic shot on target above the crossbar for the save in the 85’. Szczesny contributed three saves, one punch, one high claim, two saves from inside the box, seven accurate long balls, two clearances, one ground duel won, and one aerial duel won.
Merih Demiral - 5
The defense as a whole did not have a lot to contribute, but in the minutes it needed it most failed to keep Verona off the board. Demiral was bad. The Turkish player contributed one clearance, two tackles, three ground duels won, one aerial duel won, one offsides call, one key pass, five accurate long balls, and one successful dribble.
Matthijs De Ligt - 6
Again the defense was bad, even the Dutch player had a poor performance that was only exacerbated by the even worse performances of his co-defenders. De Ligt contributed three clearances, two blocked shots, two interceptions, one ground duel won, two aerial duels won, one accurate long ball, and one shot on target. De Ligt was penalized with a yellow card in the 33’ on a call that was equally as questionable as the Ramsey yellow card.
Alex Sandro - 4.5
The thought that this man has been given the Juventus captain’s armband multiple times this season makes my skin crawl. No one else can think of any other Juve players more deserving to wear the captain’s armband? Not Ronaldo? Not De Ligt? Designating it by games played is antiquated. In the 77’ with minimal time remaining in the match, Sandro was worked by Antonin Barak over Sandro for the equalizing header. Following the goal allowed in the 78’ the Brazilian did everything possible on a lazily thrown in a pass to De Ligt to land in front of a Verona attacker to potentially capitalize and lose all possible points for the club, luckily for Sandro the Dutch defender was able to shut it down and resolve the mistake he made. Sandro contributed three clearances, one interception, three tackles, eight ground duels won, two aerial duels won, one key pass, and three accurate long balls.
Federico Chiesa - 6
The Italian was a party to the early scoring attempt club, but failed to get his shot past the goalkeeper, as well. The second-leading goal scorer for the club almost tallied another in a beautiful shot on goal in the 14’ but was saved by the keeper as all are known to turn into 2006 Gigi Buffon against the Bianconero. Federico Chiesa delivered a beautiful assist for the Ronaldo goal in the 49’. Unfortunately, it was not enough to keep the team above Verona for the entire match. Chiesa contributed one assist, one key pass, one accurate long ball, one big chance created, one shot on target, one shot off target, five ground duels won one offsides call, two interceptions, and three tackles. Chiesa was questionably pulled for Alessandro Di Pardo in the 86’.